Dateless And Desperate Dunce
by Hyuchiha Ruki
Summary: This is totally whacked. Neji Hyuga, my best friend and the dork I’ve known to have a thing for Hermoine Granger in sixth grade, was giving me a look only a pretty boy made. And he's offering kissing lessons. Wanted: A Date for Tenten. AU HS NejiTen fic.
1. Introduction

**I'm sorry I couldn't post this sooner. Anyone who's wondering where the first chapter went, don't look too far. It's just the next chapter after this.**

**This is the introduction of characters for the chapter fic 'Dateless and Desperate Dunce' so you can keep track of the character's unusual OOC-ness and all.**

**It is not necessary to read this before the real story so please proceed to the first chapter if you think this is not worth it.**

**Thank you to the ones who bother to read this, though.**

**The story may have mild swear words that are quite understandable so this stays as Rated T.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Note: Tenten's Point of View.**

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-Introduction-

'Introducing Batch of 2008: The stuck-up chicks and the pathetic guys'

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ask me anything about Konoha High's Batch of 2008 and all I'll tell you is that I hate almost everyone there.

Sure, they're my batch mates, but they can be considered a band of jerks, especially in my perspective.

Take a look at the yearbook we got when we graduated from middle school. It's still the same old people and it's hard to believe that I managed to cope with them through all those years of wedgies, mocks and 'Kick me' signs on my back.

Column Seven of Bio Class has Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. All three of them are total opposites, but they still consider each other their own best friend.

_Naruto_ is the batch clown and the only clown alive to get straight B's. His grades aren't impressive, but they're fair. He gets clobbered a lot of times everyday and he never fails to enter class with a black eye or two. But anytime, he'd join a fight for Sakura. He pulled a prank on every teacher known and has escaped from detention almost every time, thanks to Sakura's plans. He joined the Math club… he's their blackboard eraser.

_Sasuke_ is the baseball team's first baser, since he was too short to even become the referee in basketball. He sticks to one crowd like how he only sticks to one diet (all meat and no vegetables). Like all, he has a weakness: he fails Chemistry. Last year, he was near to being recommended for summer school till he managed to pass the final exam. He was had more swirlies in his high school years than I did.

That's where _Sakura_ comes in. For three years, she's been tutoring Sasuke, her crush, along with six other students. Her schedule's always hectic since she has to fuss about her own studies, being part of the student council, tutoring students and taking library shifts. She spends too much time in the fiction section of the school library and in the benches, watching Sasuke play ball and lose.

Row Nine in Algebra Remedial and Algebra 4 is composed of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, the family friends. They're more inseparable than the Column Seven group, even outside school. But they're definitely a strange bunch.

_Ino_ and her gorgeous build won the title of Prom Queen in the Junior Prom _and _in the Senior Prom. Even if a million guys have asked her out, she turned all of them done, leaving them to cry in the dust. She could've gotten an Academic Award last graduation if she didn't suck in Algebra so much. For five years already, she's been attending Algebra remedial classes… still, she plays hooky sometimes.

One of her friends, _Choji_ keeps himself busy with being the quarterback of the football team. If he didn't devour school lunches in three minutes _thrice _every school day, he'd be fit. But that doesn't stop a few girls from drooling over him (how shocking). Still, Algebra pulls him down, too. And for the record, he's one of the few who eats cafeteria food daily… and doesn't rush to the bathroom or the clinic right after.

The third of their group is _Shikamaru_, captain of the chess team and Ino's first and only boyfriend. He wouldn't be in Algebra Remedial if it weren't for his two best friends. He didn't fail Algebra like them. He only attends remedial classes so he could be with them and sometimes, to give them pointers and tips. He's overprotective of his girlfriend but hates the limelight, giving away the title of Prom King since he didn't like the attention.

Then, there's Gym Trio: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. Honestly, I thought pigs would fly even before they get teamed up together. They only became classmates in Gym class but they're a gang of pals outside the classrooms.

_Kiba_ led the pack, as he'd like to say it. He has a weird obsession with cats that consists of cat posters and pictures taped on his locker and notebooks and suddenly muttering "Meow" randomly in a random situation. But, strangely, he owns ten dogs, which he sometimes smuggles into school. He's the soccer team's best player and is responsible for last season's win.

_Hinata_ always attends parties, dancing and socializing. But she doesn't make friends easily and she is often misjudged to be 'an indifferent rich kid' because of the limo she rides to school and because of the designer things she owns, like her Calvin Klein sneakers. We all know that Calvin Klein do _not _make sneakers. That's the point! How much do you think did she bribe the company just to make her those sneakers?

The resident deejay, hippie and the photographer of the school newspaper, _Shino_ changes the color of his sunglasses every week ranging from the original black to the odd-looking 70's rainbow one. He doesn't really talk much, but he can sure crack jokes and laugh like a maniac. Scary, but hilarious. He is sometimes responsible for scandals, though. He controlled the sound systems during our prom nights.

Of course, there's the group of exchange students that transferred here a year before graduation, maybe so they'd be in the yearbook by then. They called themselves the 'Beach Sibs'. I think it was because they came from a Sandy Country… maybe Africa, which has the Sahara.

_Temari_ is the eldest sister, three years older than everyone else and the only one who dared flirt with Ino's boyfriend, Shikamaru. She's known for her computer skills, from extraordinary PowerPoint presentations to hacking. Whenever the faculty's espresso machine malfunctioned or maybe whenever the PA system made the principal's voice sound like a million farts, Temari would be laughing her head off and proud of what she did.

The middle child_, Kankuro_, is the lead vocalist of the school's rock band and is two years older than all. Being a rule breaker, he usually has his face painted outrageously. His antics either made the teachers crazy or the girls screaming for him. If the school needed money, he'd start a fund-raising concert. In an hour, the school earns more than a thousand dollars.

_Gaara_ is their youngest sibling and the only one in school who had the guts to get a tattoo on his forehead. Many times, the teachers have scolded him, but he never really cared. He was the cutest thing in school, but only second to Kiba's Dalmatian puppy. Shockingly, he joined the school's boys' choir in his freshman year and has helped the choir win numerous contests. Many have said that he has the voice of a million angels.

I'm not going to forget my own gang. Aside from me, I've got my pals, Rock Lee and Neji Hyuga. They're my classmates in both my Japanese Literature class and my History class. So, we share the same column every time.

_Lee_ is part of the school's boxing team and is also a member of the poets' guild. I don't know why he joined the poet's guild. He sucks a lot. But he excels in boxing. But not once did he win in the tournaments. He's labeled 'weirdo', 'gay ass' and 'freak', yet, he keeps his head high when walking down the halls… even if the words 'I'm in love with Kiba' is usually taped on his back (The reason why Kiba hates him).

Back in elementary, _Neji_ was the meanest bully in school. He gave the highest wedgies around and started the toughest spats ever known. But when he became my partner in my Dance Class, he almost always cried in desperation. Dance class is the only class that he stinks at. He barely passes every year. But I helped him through Dance class and since then, we became friends. He's now a geek, they say, but he's still cute.

_Me_? Oh, I'm the Drama Club's director. I've directed many school plays but I've never played a role in any of them. Many of my batch mates thought acting is for sissies… so, I was eternally labeled 'Sissy'. Usually, higher-class men would pick on me, taunting me or pushing me in the hall. But Neji would always pulverize them if ever it happened. He's nice and caring, after all.

I guess that's some of my batch mates. There are still other students, but I guess you'll just meet them soon.

I'm not going to forget the teachers that rack our brains every year.

I don't want to, but I guess I have to introduce the teachers, too.

_Kakashi-sensei_ is the Japanese Literature teacher. He's not exactly the ideal teacher since the moment he steps inside the classroom, he throws his butt onto the teacher's chair, props his feet up onto the table and reads this same book over and over again and lets us do whatever the hell we want. Then, before the bell rings, he announces a quiz, even if he didn't discuss anything for the day. Not even the nerds aced the quiz.

His favorite quote: "If you kids studied your lessons at home, you'd pass any quiz anytime without me giving a damn lecture."

Still, Kakashi-sensei is one of the best teachers around. He laughed with us in the cafeteria as if he wasn't a thirty-five-year-old man amid sixteen-year-old students hanging out in the cafeteria. But he's the only teacher who doesn't have a favorite coz he says, "You all suck in my eyes." Wink.

_Asuma-sensei_ is the Algebra teacher. He's always smoking something before, during and after class and inside or outside school. He smokes a variety of stuff from cigarettes to home-planted marijuana. We wonder how he manages to smoke in a non-smoking school and never get fired. He also teaches in the Algebra remedial class, which is odd because he also _needs _Algebra remedial classes. His favorite student? Shikamaru.

One of the few female teachers in school is _Kurenai-sensei_. She teaches Bio, Chemistry, Work Education: Kunoichi Class (where we learn how to cook, sew, arrange flowers, decorate rooms, fold clothes, wash dishes…), Botany and she's the coach of the school's girls' softball team. She must be really good at handling stress. She's married to Asuma-sensei and on their wedding day, every male in the faculty attempted suicide.

We all know _Gai-sensei_. He's the gym teacher and he also teaches Work Education: Shinobi Class (carpentry, making stuff out of Popsicle sticks, improvising, mechanical and technical skills…) and he's also the guidance counselor. I know, I know. At first, we were all screaming, "WTF is this?!" But, soon, he's not such a bad guy, after all. He believes in:

"The older, the wiser."

Only because he's nearly 55… but he looks like he's 69 and just gets his face 'fixed' with Botox every morning.

I'm not going to dare forget _Jiraiya-sensei, _the teacher who teaches Health Education and he's Coordinator of the Japanese Literature Subject Area. He's the wackiest sensei around and he can have you rolling on the floor laughing your head off and peeing your pants with his antics… and he doesn't even try to look funny. In fact, he has lots of pride. And he's trying to woo someone…

And that's _Tsunade-sensei, _the music teacher and surprisingly, she's the coach of the Karate Club… and a part-time nurse in the school clinic. She's aspiring to be the principal once my batch has graduated. Tsunade-sensei never fails to encourage the girl students to reach for their goals and she's also responsible for giving Hinata a backbone. The lady has a short temper so watch it.

We've got more teachers in the lounge but I guess I'd be wasting time if I introduced more of them.

So, there's all you need to know about the people in school. Hope you took note of them all.

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**Please proceed to the first chapter. Thank you. **


	2. Wanted: A Date

**Due to a rather annoying case of LSS (Last Song Syndrome) on the song 'High School Never Ends' by Bowling for Soup, I decided to make a high school fic. But, no, this isn't like all the other high school fics. This is the not-so-typical kind.**

**This is, obviously, my version where…**

**Sasuke isn't a such a pretty boy snub, where Sakura isn't a nerdy bookworm with the history book permanently tucked under her arm. Ino isn't the flirt and Shikamaru isn't boring but still, he's smart. Naruto isn't such a hybrid (half-idiot, half-moron) and Hinata wouldn't throw up of embarrassment. Tenten's not going to be so neglected and plus, Neji isn't that anti-social.**

**Call it OOC. I call it Original. –falls over and withers at own temporary conceit-**

**Like majority of the high school fics around, there's a party or something like that. But, here, it's not the prom. It's the Annual Graduation Ball… which is close enough.**

**Enjoy and please don't hesitate to leave a review, flames or not since this is my first high school fic.**

**Note: Tenten's Point of View.**

**Disclaimer: Heck, I don't own Naruto. But I own this story. And since that's the case, I'm satisfied.**

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_Chapter One:_

'_Wanted: A Date to the Grad Ball for the Batch Sissy'_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Luke," one of my best friends altered his voice to make it sound like Darth Vader's, "_This _is your destiny." He grasped my shoulders firmly and gave me a stern expression, trying to seem serious despite the chuckles he was stifling.

"My name's not Luke. You're talking to the wrong stranger. And you know, Neji," I tried to talk with a forced beam, "I never really watched the Star Wars series, you know. And don't make that voice; it freaks the hell out of me, damn it."

Hearing that out of me, he rolled his pearl eyes and took his hands away from my shoulders, "Gawd, Tenten, Star Wars isn't a series. Family Guy is a series. But Star Wars? No. It's a trilogy."

All I could do is roll my eyes and mumble "Whatever" under my breath. He takes things too seriously.

"Anyway…" he said, placing his hands back on my shoulders, gripping them too tightly and once again imitating Darth Vader's voice, "I am your father."

I shivered at hearing Darth Vader's creepy muffler-like tone again and I almost yelped, "Alright, I get it! You want me to get the guy. Yeah, yeah! Now just quit it with the voice and let me do the job." That did the trick. He let go and turned to Lee to hear what he had to say.

He just gave me a wink and thumbs up and said, "You can do it, Tenten! Woo him like Romeo serenading Juliet in James Bond's singing voice under a yogurt cheese moon!"

That's the problem with my pals. Neji is the typical boy who used to be a real hell of a bully back in elementary. Now a fan of Sci-Fi movies and Harry Potter, he did his best studying the language the elves used in Lord of the Rings and even managed to flawlessly copy Darth Vader's accent.

Lee is like a cheerleader. Even though he _is _the school mascot, he'd encourage you to go for it no matter how dangerous. Even if you were going to jump off the fifth floor, he'd be screaming, "Go for it!" (Which happened last year) and he never fails to make the worst pieces of 'poetry'.

But, hey, I'm in no position to speak. I'm the drama club's director and I do nothing but fail Calculus and History class and play Grand Theft Auto with Neji. He always beats me there, which isn't such a deal.

In weeks, we're going to be graduate students. And, along with the dumb proms we've attended last year and last month, there's the Graduation Ball, usually held the night after graduation or on graduation night itself.

Graduation Ball equals to having to fuss about getting a date… again.

So, here I am, leaning on my locker beside Neji's, eyeing Sasuke Uchiha: one of the many guys who gets three swirlies a day… and still manages to look decent. Believe me. Lee has experienced swirlies all his life and he looks freakier by the minute. Maybe that's how Lee really is.

"What are you doing still gawking like that?" Neji said, making me stop staring at Uchiha just pass me by. Only now did I realize that he had come out of his Chemistry class after the second dismissal bell, "You said you're going to ask him to the Ball, right? Then, get to it!"

Then and there, he gave a quick shove and I was forced to join the flow of the packed hallway. I realized that the dumb high school traffic has brought me closer to Sasuke despite the fact that he's walking briskly.

Taking a glance at the pick-up lines Neji wrote for me on my wrist, I tried to choose one.

Should I say _"Is it you or is it hot in here?" _or _"What's your sign?"_

Okay, maybe none.

And with such concentration (even walking has seemed to be so difficult), I snapped the numbness out of my limbs and walked towards Sasuke. A meter away… A foot away… A step away… An inch away…

_Oh, fudge!_

I hit him.

"Hey," he growled rather lowly, "Watch it." As our shoulders rubbed, I can't help but stare back at him and maybe, just maybe, I looked worst than an idiot. Seriously, guys, what's worst than an idiot?

And there, I mumbled what seemed to be the word I first said in fifteen years, complete with thick saliva and probably a near-to-foaming mouth…

"Y-Yao."

Yao? Alright, know what's worst than an idiot? Me!

Surprisingly, he didn't arch a brow or throw me a sickened look. He simply raised his brows and greeted back, "Yo."

Gawd, he's got such wonderful black locks. With that blue shine, it pretty much reminds me of the night sky before an evening shower. And his eyes? It's like if you look straight at them, you'll fall in and just never look away ever again. And his braces remind me of diamonds…

Then, he says something that strikes a miniature heart attack, "Say, you're Tenten, right? Heh." Hah! He remembers me! Wait… he remembers me? Where the hell did we meet before?

I merely nodded and he went on, "I saw you somewhere before in the arcade three blocks from here. I saw you hanging with the… Hyuga bully, I think. And that bard guy Lee. You and Neji were playing Alien Exterminator and I recall seeing Lee shriek every time an alien got shot."

I swear I heard Neji wham his hand against his locker, causing a loud bam against cold locker metal when he heard Sasuke say 'Hyuga bully'.

Yeah, Neji and I loved to play Alien Exterminator. Of course, his high score is unbeatable and when I got frustrated enough to actually kick the game screen with my foot when I got too pissed, the security chased us out and we almost got jailed for the night.

Good times.

I couldn't help but snicker for three seconds… then gawk back at Sasuke blankly. "Yeah, and you're… Sasuke."

He raises his brows effortlessly once more and then suddenly blurts out, "You were the girl who tried out for first baser last year, right?"

I let out an awfully embarrassed chuckle _complete with a snort, _which I tried to hide as soon as I could. I should really stop laughing like that or else, people will not only label me 'Sissy'… they'd call me 'Piggy the Sissy'.

"Well, yeah. I almost got in if I didn't have such a weak-ankle girl. " I said, trying to act normally when in truth, I wasn't. Gawd, that time when I tried out for the baseball team is still a memory that hurts my head. I swear I cursed all the way home when they turned me down.

"I… I don't usually see you in the basketball court or on the baseball field…" I stammered, trying to change my stance, "Not a sports person?"

He gave me a furrowed brow, "I'm the baseball team's first baser. Didn't you see me play last season?"

_Lemon squares! I forgot! He's the only one who couldn't catch the fly ball last season! _

"O-Oh?!" I tried to act like I didn't know that, "That's… awesome!" Then, the only thing I wished that would never occur happened: I started to talk without pausing again… something I usually did when I'm talking to a cute guy (surprisingly, I don't do that in front of Neji).

"What's it like, huh?" I foolishly suddenly barked out loud with a sheepish grin.

"What's it like what?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"What the…" he gave me a suddenly pissed look, "What do you mean, what do you mean?"

I suddenly panicked, "I… Baseball! What's it like to be a baseball player?" Whoa, good slip. Great job, Tenten.

At that point, he threw me a blank expression.

He smirked and answered, "It's fun, actually. You play baseball?"

"Gawd no!" I immediately shrieked then I changed my answer, "No, wait! Yes, yes! I have. A little but I don't think I'm good." My, I'm totally sounding like a real lunatic. Guess what? I came with matching giggles and sudden gasps like an asthmatic kid.

And his smirk, from the blank look, transformed into a completely irritated and turned off air. I blew it.

"H-Hey!" I went to say, "Uh, you know about the Graduation Ball, right? What do you think of it? I mean, I'd think… you know, as seniors, it's going to be our last time together… _as a batch_! Nothing more! Just… a batch! So, I was wondering if… you'd spend it with me so we can get to know…"

"Wait a minute." He interrupted me in mid-sentence, "You're a… senior?!"

I arched a brow and nodded silently. He, on the other hand, made a face that seemed shocked and disgusted at the same time, "Seriously?" he said, somewhat making out an amused tone, "My gawd, I thought you were a sophomore."

Fine, so even if I _am _older than him, I can't believe that he thought I seemed younger to him. But that's better than being mistaken for a _College Sophomore _anyway.

"So…" I began, "You wanna go to the Grad Ball with m-…"

"Grad Ball, huh?" he repeated with his fingers cupping his chin. He definitely looked hot whenever he did that, "Sounds fun."

"Yeah, fun. It'll be--…"

"Too bad I promised my best friend that I'd take her."

Crash. And voila, it was the end for me. He's 'politely' and 'very understandingly' declining me with a statement that hid the secret message: An echoing, ear-splitting, stomach churning, psychologically disturbing NO.

"Aaah…" I mouthed, pretending to be fine, "So… you're taking Sakura, huh?"

Like always, he raised his brows with his lips slightly parted, as if he wanted to speak but the words refused to come out. And soon, he shrugged his shoulders at me, as if telling me to get over it and find a guy equally sissy as me.

He turned the other way and walked away, leaving me dateless for the third time in my whole high school life.

When Sasuke was far enough, Neji and Lee approached me and stood by my side, one friend at either side. Neji had his arms crossed against his chest and he growled, "Hyuga bully? The jerk. When I kick his--…"

"Neji! No swearing, please!" Lee stopped him from continuing his sentence, forcing Neji to stop before saying the word 'ass'.

Firmly like always, Neji planted a hand onto my shoulder and asked in a mumbled, "Okay, so it turns out that Sasuke the wimp had the nerve to turn you down. Big deal, you're better than him." And all I could do was turn to him and grin back as I saw him snicker.

"If you like," he began an offer, probably one consisting of wedgies and black eyes, "I can knock him out tonight and in the morning, he'll wake up dazed in Jamaica with a banjo. You know, for rejecting you."

I shook my head and replied, "Let's just grab a Mocha Latte, guys."

Hearing that I'm fine and taking this sanely, Neji couldn't help but laugh and lock arms with me, "Sure thing! Hey, Lee, come on! I'm driving the three of us to the nearest coffee shop for a latte."

There we were: Three best friends on their way out of the school to go get ourselves a latte. Neji's the best.

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**I hope it's not that choppy as I thought it was. By the way, I don't own Star Wars or Lord of the Rings but I'm sure no one's wondering.**

**Come to think of it, the story's title comes out as D&DD... or D3 or 3D. Cool. xD**

**Well, did you guys like it? There'll be more to come so keep yourselves posted! Reviews are welcome!**


	3. Shino or Stag?

**I forgot to add the intro before the 1st chappie so sorry about that. **

**The second chapter of the 3D is here!**

**And any of you asking what the main and side pairings are… Well, you guys can find out soon enough. Especially since I'm mentioning someone in a relationship in this chapter, okay?**

**Thanks to the ones who gave this fic a chance and R&Red. It means a lot to me.**

**So, without further ado, let's get on with the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other Sci-Fi thing Neji mentions in this chapter.**

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_Chapter Two:_

'_Either go Stag or Ask Him Out'_

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Let's list down a few things that are worst than Tenten's attempts to snag a date." Neji joked as he drove through intersection at an alarming speed, turning his head to look at me on the back seat.

I grumbled something under my breath and I growled, "Shut up. I am _not _taking part. And can you put your eyes back on the road, please?" And as I slumped back against the car window, I downed some of my iced coffee and proceeded to blink my eyes in frustration.

After a roll of his eyes, Neji turned back to the street and began, "Number One: Lee's poetry actually getting published in the school newspaper." As Neji laughed away like a maniac, I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah!" Lee suddenly blurted out from the third seat in Neji's Innova in a series of boisterous laughter, but he then paused and then suddenly yelled out, "Hey!"

He ignored what Lee's reaction like always and went on, "Number Two: My cousin losing her dentures when in truth, they're just in her mouth."

I paused and contemplated on what he just said, "Hinata wears dentures? Or Hanabi?"

"None of them do." Neji explained, stopping at a red light and taking a sip out of his extra strong espresso. He licked his lips and concluded his remark, "And that's the point."

Sometimes, Neji really doesn't make any sense.

The red light never turned green within the seventeen seconds of silence so Lee then added something to the 'list', "Number Three: Neji going stag last prom _and _ending up getting crowned Prom King." Lee laughed on his own. I muttered. Neji made a swift turn, making us all fall off our seats.

When he was driving through a semi-packed street, he took another sip of his espresso and he yelled from his seat, "Can I get something clear about last month's prom, guys?! I went stag coz my girlfriend broke up with me the day before the prom! And I was crowned Prom King only because the Prom Queen's date was dense enough to get himself dethroned immediately."

I couldn't help but gaze downwards when he said something about his ex. Usually, when someone mentioned anything about his first and last girlfriend, he'd go on a rampage. And whenever he saw her in school, he tripped her. Why is he mentioning her now?

"Makes pretty much no sense once again," I growled after downing more of my iced coffee, "Ino was Prom Queen and Shikamaru is her boyfriend, her date and was supposed to be Prom King! Why did _you _come in second place _then _become Prom King? You're a geek!"

"And what does that make you?" Neji snapped back, angry like Tsunade-sensei on drugs, "Besides, you're labeled 'Batch Sissy'. Lee's the 'Gay Crap Sissy' and I'm the 'Geek-Of-Nature Sissy'. Makes us all even, right? The Sissy Trio. Peachy!"

I hated it whenever he reviews our school labels. Neji's label is still forgivable since despite it, he's still hot. I admit that I can't survive high school with Lee's label, though. But my label? 'Batch Sissy' made me the queen of all Sissies and Crap. I was second to the worst with Lee on number one. I think Neji's label's just tenth to the worst!

We stopped at another red light and it was just our dumb luck that it's the longest red light in the metro. And as the cruel red light shone, Neji turned to the sulking back seat rider (that's me) again and he then noted in a calmer voice, "I see Sasuke's wimpy rejection's still getting to you."

Indeed, I looked like I just went through a broken marriage. "I died." I whimpered, throwing Neji a saddened and next to sobbing face. It was just my misfortune that I had a huge crush on Sasuke and I never thought this would happen.

"Get over it," Neji snickered, staring back at me with his warm and sparkling Hyuga eyes and his model's grin, "Tell you what: If ever you _do _go to the Ball stag, you're not gonna be alone since I plan to go stag all my life. I'm done with girls."

Look who's talking. The guy who's telling me to get over the Sasuke thing is the same guy who can't move on from his ex-girlfriend. Not that he wants her back. In fact, he hates her. He just can't stand seeing her. Seeing her and just her. He didn't love her anymore but he hates her. Harsh.

Lee hung his head from the third seat and scolded Neji like always, "Don't say that, Neji! Tenten is a magnificent frog that will get a prince to smack her revolting amphibious lips on the romantic night of Graduation Ball. And look at it this way, Tenten: How many guys have you asked?"

I wanted to strangle Lee, "One. Sasuke." I replied sourly.

"See?" Lee said, shining with optimism, "There are more guys in school and I bet at least one of them would turn out to be the beautiful prince that will fall for your glittering, dewy frog skin's charm." Gawd, I hate Lee's poetry _and _his optimism.

Still, I know I can only trust Neji's opinion and advice. Neji went through the same hell when his ex ditched him for Kiba, the school's soccer star. Actually, he transforms soccer to wrestling, sometimes. He keeps pretending that he's alright and the only girl he ever talks to is me and no one else.

"Lee, take the wheel." Neji demanded as he unbuckled his seatbelt and proceeded to cross over to the back seat with me. Lee obediently nodded and gracefully threw his thin leotard-drabbed legs over the seat then to the driver's seat. During this kind of 'seat exchange', I freak out like hell whenever we're not at a red light.

Once Neji is finally beside me while Lee's already at the front seat, manning the wheel, he turned to me and flashed a comforting and rather friendly smile at me. It's the smile he usually does to hide anything true, but he normally smiles like that at me.

"What about the guy you went to the prom with, Tenten?" Neji suggested, "I bet he's willing to go to the Grad Ball with you." Yes, Neji was the only one who went to the prom stag.

I shook my head wearily and explained, "Do you seriously think that that freshman would go to the Grad Ball this time around? I can't bribe him again." Hearing that, Neji just nodded and made a face that said 'Sure, sure.'

"I'm mocking you as I say this, okay? So don't kill me. Here:" Neji began as he held his paper cup of coffee near his lips. I wondered what he wanted to say, but then he mumbled after sipping his coffee, "Why don't you take Lee with you?"

He burst out laughing as I sat up and whacked his head with my palm. "That is not funny!" I yelled, my veins throbbing. Even so, Lee just added something, "Oh, that can't be, Neji! I'm going to go to the Ball with my mother!"

When everyone thinks Lee is gay, they're half-wrong. In fact, I'm guessing he's a fan of incest a la Cleopatra x Ptolemy XIII and XIV.

Actually, even if I _did _ask Lee out, he'd decline nicely. I swear that's true. And Neji? I've thought of it over and over already but a few things are holding me back: One thing used to be his girlfriend but she's out of the question now. Second is our friendship.

Would it ruin our friendship if I asked him out? Would he do the same thing he did to the three unsuspecting girls who asked him to the Sadie Hawkins Dance last year to his own best friend if I asked him out? Those three girls couldn't feel their cheeks for weeks from his slap.

Believe me, Neji wouldn't hold back even if you _are _a girl or two years old.

So, my two best friends aren't considered as choices. They gave me choices.

When the traffic light shifted to green, Lee gently pushed the gas and sped his way across the intersection… at what seems like just 20 mph. Luckily for now, Neji didn't mind. Usually, he'd be screaming at Lee, telling him to drive like a man.

"Try out Shino." Neji suggested, tossing his empty paper cup out the half-opened window, "He's the school deejay and the school paper's photographer, right? He'd say yes, I think. He's probably desperate, too, with that weird afro and his weekly color changing sunglasses."

Shino Aburame? The guy who just shuts up during class but cracks jokes and explodes in fits of laughter faster than a comedian? Please.

I threw Neji a skeptical glare and grumbled, "I think I'd rather go stag to the Grad Ball than arrive arm to arm with the school hippie." After one more gulp of my iced coffee, I went on, "He's Hinata's gym partner and a part of her gang along with Kiba. You've got to hear what Hina has to say."

Probably curious, Neji arched a brow and questioned, "Really? She said something about Shino? I'm not surprised, but what?"

"Well," I began, still slouching on my seat, "Shino disapproves of football since he says it's 'sports violence that breaks the harmony between rival teams'. She also said that Shino is the kind of hippie who preaches about carnivorous diets. He says we must save the plants more than the animals. How ironic that he's like that even if he has Kiba as a friend."

He drew his lower lip to the side as he flinched, "Kiba's the guy who almost started a food fight the other 'Veggie Thursday' frenzy in the cafeteria, right? It's gonna be scary of those two get closer."

"They're already best friends…"

"Then I'll be expecting cannibalism to be normal by then."

Once again, Neji doesn't make any sense. Such an issue.

"Lee," Neji called to our friend, "Do you know where the hell Shino Aburame lives? You know, the hippie with the multi-colored glasses?"

Hearing that, Lee nodded and explained, "I was hired to stalk him once by Choji, I think. Why do you ask? Are we going there?"

I landed a soft punch at Neji's thigh, making him squeak. He's got to be kidding. We can't go to Shino's place so I can ask him out now! Not now! Not ever! "Yeah, Lee!" Neji said, motioning Lee to drive faster, "Tenten's gonna--…"

"Shut up! I'm not asking Shino to the Grad Ball!"

"You can't ask a guy you don't exactly know to the Grad Ball like it's a blind date," Neji snapped, positioning his hands in a way that seemed like he's telling me to chill and understand, "That'd be just using him, which is sickening." Yep, Neji is pretty sensitive when it came to 'guy or girl using' since his ex used him, actually.

The run of the car increased to 25 mph. Not much difference, but it's Lee's driving for you. Soon, Neji continued his explanation, "You're going to ask him out today, yeah, but not to the Ball _yet_." He paused as if to encourage suspense, "You're gonna ask him to a movie date."

"A movie date?!" I tried to oppose, but I had a feeling he had more to say.

He nodded and kept talking, "If you two go on a movie date, you'll get too know each other with some of your attention on the movie rather than on each other. This will remove some awkwardness towards the other. After that time, ask him to the Ball. By that time, he already knows you better and would most probably say yes."

Not bad. It could be the last thing that would get to my mind, but I guess I can do it.

"You're a genius, bud." I complimented him, softly giving him a punch on the arm. He just smirked and answered, "No problem, best bud."

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Uh, I'm sorry, I don't talk to strangers."

The nerve of this Shino guy!

"W-We're not strangers." I tried to get him to talk to me, "I'm Tenten. I'm a senior in Konoha High, like you. Don't you know me? We share the same Music class! I sit three chairs behind you!"

Still, he didn't recognize me. He arched a brow and I bet behind his deep vermilion sunglasses (he's got a new one every week), he's throwing me a pathetic glare. Oh, gawd, how I wanted to just pass out on the spot and let this go.

Nearby, Neji's car is parked and I bet he and Lee are staring through the tinted glass rather fervently. Maybe Lee is squealing, too.

I heaved a sigh and tried to describe myself during Music Class, "I'm the one who got a D- on our second oral test! I was the one who got my head hit against the gong by the board! I'm the out of tune dunce on fourth clarinet!"

"Oh, yeah," Shino muttered, snapping his fingers, "I remember now. Sensei was freaking out the other quarter, saying that the player of fourth clarinet needs to stop abusing the poor instrument. It _was _you."

Great. If ever I manage to change my high school label before graduation, I'd be 'Wanted for Clarinet Abuse'. Peachy.

Now that he knew who I was, he proceeded to say, "So, tell me whatever you wanna tell me, fellow carnivore. I have to pass by my brethren's home so I can go help him spread a scandal to the school paper. And I have a photo shoot for the faculty's portion of the yearbook in five hours."

I wanted to fall over and laugh till my stomach hurt whenever he uses 'fellow carnivore' or 'brethren'. It makes him too much of a hippie.

"Cool, uh, so mind if we catch a movie together?" I offered nicely and somewhat shyly. My hands were folded together to make a good impression and my cheeks hurt from jaw muscles stretching too far.

He carved what looked like a smile that wasn't (you know, it's when your lips just quiver then… there's no emotion coz it's just there.) and he replied with a nod, "Okay. But you're paying and I'm bringing my friends with me. Just in case."

Just in case? What the hell did he mean by 'Just in case'?

Oh well. "Sure, bring them along! I don't mind!" I lie a lot. With his friends around, I'd be both out of place _and _suffering from having to put up with either more of his peace-and-flower-power friends or Kiba and his pets with Neji's rich party girl cousin, Hinata.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"What is this stuff?"

Neji stared hard back at my tangled and sticky hair as I sat in my house clothes by his kitchen sink. "A mixture of gum, root beer and mayonnaise with some popcorn and a bottle of maple syrup." I pointed out and up till now, I can't believe I remembered everything in the gunk.

"Crap," he muttered, poking my scalp with his finger, "Who did you piss off?"

I furrowed my brows as I leaned my head, hanging it to make my long, brown and polluted hair strands into the sink just below the faucet. As I felt Neji turn the faucet, the cool water splashed onto the back of my head soothingly.

"And do I really have to do this?" Neji complained as he watched my hair get drenched, "This is a disruption to my manliness. Get Lee to wash your hair instead. I can't do this." Here he goes again about his foolish male pride.

I sighed and said, "You've got those gorgeous locks of yours. I bet you know exactly what to do. I can't trust Lee with my hair. You've seen his own hair, right? What do you think could he do to mine?"

Luckily, he got the point. He started squeezing shampoo onto my hair and before I knew it, he was massaging my soapy head. He did this kind of thing like a real professional and I can't help but go limp and relax.

"What happened, anyway?" He brought the subject of my movie date with Shino and his friends, "Kiba must've been there. I can tell. Shino has friends who are the kind of hippies who hate maple syrup since they say they come from maple trees."

I rolled my eyes and felt weaker and sleepier as Neji kept massaging the sides of my head with a circular motion. Ah, he is too good. "Yeah, Kiba and Hinata were there. Shino says he doesn't go with strangers without his friends. Then, Kiba mixed some of his chewed-up gum, a fourth of his root beer, the mayonnaise off of his hotdog and a whole bottle of maple syrup from who knows where into my popcorn bucket."

"Why?"

"The hell do I know." After Neji washed the shampoo away, he rubbed his soft palms down my hair as he applied the conditioner. And, man, whenever he touched my nape, a chill that made me feel good went down my spine. For a geek, he's could work at a spa.

"Then what happened next?" He eagerly asked but it wasn't easy to tell from his voice.

I groaned and exclaimed, "The jerk went wild in the middle of the movie. Voldemort was going to kill Cedric when-…"

"Oh, gawd, you watched Harry Potter? That is a load of sh--…"

"_Anyway_, he jumped up from his seat beside me and accidentally sent the bucket with the gunk flying and it landed on my head. Hinata scolded him for being so rude and misbehaved. But I could see her stifling a laugh."

I felt Neji's hand run down my wet hair as he commented, "Whoa, didn't know my cousin would actually find that hilarious."

Once he was done, he got my towel and towel-dried my hair until it's not dripping anymore. He says that washing my hair was already enough so he told me that I do the combing. I agreed since he was sweet enough to wash my hair and even get my mind straight.

In a while, I got my hair back in my usual buns and I decided to stay in his house for a little while. "When I asked Shino to the Ball," I then said as he logged into my e-mail account for me (yes, he knows my password and only him), "He said he's going with Kiba's sister."

"Shot down by a hippie." He whispered under his breath, not really helping.

I sat beside Neji on the couch as he kept his laptop snugly on his lap. He wouldn't let me put it on my lap until it got uncomfortable hot. Then, his eyes grew and his brows rose.

"Who the hell is DemonFalcon?" He asked out of nowhere.

I heard him and moved closer to get a look at the laptop screen. And there, inside my inbox, is an e-mail from someone named DemonFalcon. I knew no one by that chat name and his or her real name wasn't shown. Who the hell is he, indeed?

"Huh? I don't know anyone by that name." I said, "But what does the e-mail say? How do you think did he know my e-mail address?"

Neji simply shrugged and proceeded to click on the e-mail subject, 'Good Day to you, Tenten', and check out what's with this DemonFalcon guy.

"Let's check it out."

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**Hey, guys! I've got a poll in my bio about this story so please be considerate and answer it. Thanks!**

**So, here's the second chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Anyway, I'll be trying to update as fast I can so there won't be a lot of delays.**

**Please leave a review! After all, it's free and legal! And, thank you again for those who read and left reviews!**

**By the way, Kankuro will be back at Chapter Three, okay? **


	4. IM

**Even now, I apologize for screwing up the order of chapters by forgetting to sneak the intro before the first chapter. I hope you guys didn't freak out or hate me from then on. Peace.**

**Anyway, here's the third chapter, guys! And Kankuro's back!**

**Kankuro: I thought I was free to go. –sulks-**

**Me: As long as I'm breathing, you're staying here with me. Say, where were you, anyway?  
**

**Kankuro: I got the nerve to cut the leash off of my neck then run. Next thing I knew, I'm wearing girl's clothes inside a tennis court with a hillbilly girl laughing at me and calling me 'Marjorie'.**

**Me: Freaky. Well, you learned your lesson, right?**

**Kankuro: I guess it's: If you're going to try to escape, make sure you don't pass out as you're escaping.**

**Me: Whatever. On with the story!**

**Kankuro: What?! You made another crappy story? Nooo!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Three:_

"_DemonFalcon"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

**To:** 1010kunoichi

**From: **DemonFalcon

**Subject: **Good Day to You, Tenten.

**Yo.**

**DemonFalcon here. You know, what is it with us seniors and this crappy grad ball anyhows? I means it isn't illegal to go to the prom or to the damned ball without a date, right? I'm right. Yes, right. Never wrong, that's coz, nigga.**

**Anyways, ferget getting a date, that's what im sayin. U know? It's a waste of precious time. I means we're already graduating in a week's time and u go stressing urself to get a date. Well majority of the cats in school are jerks. Hear me! Konoha High's men are jerks!**

**They'd poke ur ass during the slow dance, yea.**

**So why not just chill out, go 2 the nearest pancake house and go get one of those tempting waffles with the chocolate syrup and peanut butter on top along with the calorie-stacked whipped butter and the honey. Gotta love the honey, honey.**

**Just telling u to stop fussin and get those stress lines off yer forehead. Wouldn't want to have those wrinkles on ur lovely forehead meh? Hang with your friends on grad ball, have some inedible cake, some bland punch and have a good time.**

**Oh and Ten? Prince charming isn't that far. Tellin ya.**

**--DF--**

What the hell is this? Who the frig is this DemonFalcon dope? Where'd he get my _personal _e-mail address (Only my closest friends know this address. Anyone else knew my e-mail to be tenten.is.not.a.sissy.)? And why is he telling me to go get a waffle?

"Who is this guy?" I yelled frustrated, "He's got more grammar mistakes than the batch clown in a rush." I am absolutely positive that I've got no idea who DemonFalcon could be.

"Sick," Neji muttered, giving off a sneer, "You might have a hell of a stalker, Tenten."

Stalker? Oh, gawd, no. I grabbed Neji by the collar and shook him in a panic, "I can't have a stalker! I can't, I can't! I've got a horrible, horrible phobia on that and you know it! Get me a new account and a new name now!"

"Calm down!" Neji slapped some sense into me, bringing my shoulders down to make me chill. He waited for me to rub the worried look on my face before he continued, "For all we know, maybe it's just a fluke. A fake. Or a part of some batch mate's joke. You know…?"

Neji is _finally _making sense. Maybe it's just the computer expert transfer student, Temari, playing another prank on me. Good one. But what if it _is _real? But, hey, if this DemonFalcon isn't joking around with me, it's kinda… cool. I like what he's saying. He's like a… prophet?

"Who do you think it is?" I asked Neji, rereading the e-mail, "Do you think with that last line over there, he wants to take me to the ball?"

"Stop casting delusions, Tenten," he grumbled, inspecting the e-mail yet again, "First you go thinking he's a stalker _now _you think he's asking you to the ball by giving you annoyingly-wrong messages? Load of crap, man."

I just rolled my eyes and explained, "Well, whether it's a joke or not, we might as well go along. If it is a joke, the joker will be satisfied if we just answer the damn e-mail. If it's real, then I'll get a benefit, right?" Great, I got Neji's no-sense virus.

"Sure, whatever." Neji mumbled, clicking the reply button, "But if it _is _a stalker, I gotta say you told yourself so but you still didn't listen."

Well, something told me that he isn't a stalker. I just hope I'm right.

Neji opened a new, blank e-mail and asked me as he leaned back, "So, what're you going to tell your 'secret admirer'?"

"Just write 'I get you. Like what you think. Talk to me. 1010.'" I said, also instructing him to write the text in blue Garamond font since it's my trademark. I can't believe we actually decided to get along with this internet stranger. Well, whoever he or she is, I'll just play along, I guess.

"You're sending the dude phrases?" Neji snickered, knowing how dismal this is getting, "Why bother?"

Yeah, why do I bother? Okay, I'm delusional again as I admit this: Who knows? Maybe he'll be my soul mate. Maybe he is! We'd go to the ball together and end this vain date search of mine. After the ball, we'll never get separated ever again! Nice…

As Neji sent the e-mail, he questioned me, "Do you think it's Lee?"

"Gawd, no. Lee's the last person."

"What made you think that?"

"DemonFalcon isn't writing in lame poetry lines."

"That's the point. Maybe Lee is concealing his identity by changing his writing style."

"I see."

"But, hey, it's definitely not me, okay?"

"I know, I know."

"And I also don't know who he is, okay?" Neji tried to make that very clear by emphasizing each word. He hated it when he gets accused wrongly, believe me.

"Got your point already." I growled, batting his head with my palm once again. And there, as he placed his laptop onto the coffee table in front of us, he just sighed and suddenly asked, "So, next victim is…?"

I shrugged and muttered, "Dunno. Besides, I'm the girl. Shouldn't I wait for the right guy to ask me out? This isn't the Sadie Hawkins Dance, you know." Gawd, that dance had the worst memories planted in my head.

Sadie Hawkins made Neji fume and chuckle at the same time, though. Fume because a lot of girls asked him out and he turned all of them down. Chuckle because I asked _him _to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. It wasn't anything personal, actually. Just wanted to clown around as it is.

"Ask Gaara out." Neji suggested once again, "He's quiet, right? He's single. He's an okay guy, I guess and he's one of those exchange students. I don't really care about him but he might say yes to you."

Yeah, he might. Gaara looks like a baby panda and no one can resist pinching his cheeks. The tattoo on his head didn't make him look like a gangster unlike his brother. In fact, his pout makes a million girls squeal in delight. Might as well try my luck on him.

"Neji, what's wrong with me?" I asked out of the blue. I just wanted to ask. "How come Sasuke and Shino turned me down? I know they both had girls to take, but I bet they might've just said that so I wouldn't ask again. Why? What's with me?"

I slouched on his couch and propped my feet up onto the coffee table and sighed as he explained the horrid truth to me, "I guess it's just coz you're the batch sissy… or maybe it's because they don't know you that well yet."

That's it! They don't know me well yet!

"Neji, do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"You can buy concert tickets online, right?"

"Yeeeaaah…"

"Get me five for the Metallica concert tomorrow night."

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Five tickets. Pick them up tomorrow morning in the ticket booth outside the concert venue, says here. I paid for it all already so no need to think of the fees." Neji said over the phone, typing in a speedy motion and then finally punching the enter button with a loud click.

I grinned happily and exclaimed, typing on my own PC, "Thanks so much, Neji! I owe you one!"

"No problem. I gotta go, Tenten. I have to escort Hinata to a pre-grad party in fifteen minutes. Sorry I can't stay so long." Unbelievable that up till now, Neji is still Hinata's 'nanny'. And there, he hung up.

As I put my phone down, I lifted the blinds on my bedroom window and found fresh raindrops sparkling on the glass. Gawd, I hate the rain. It makes things feel sticky or humid and it makes me uncomfortable. As I lowered the blinds once again, I thought my plan over.

Even though Gaara's part of the choir, he's loving Metallica, like his brother Kankuro. So, I got five tickets to the concert: One for him, one for Kankuro since I'm sure he'll be coming, one for me, one for Neji (I can't go without him!) and one for Temari (I'm sure she'll be guarding her sibs).

During that period of time, the five of us will get acquainted with each other and the chance of getting a date with Gaara to the grad ball will be higher. I am _so _good.

Then, a chime came out of my PC. An IM came out… from DemonFalcon.

My jaw dropped and I bet my eyes almost fell out. DemonFalcon, the same guy who e-mailed me, sent me an IM?! He's online and he knows I'm online, too.

**DemonFalcon: **1010 hi.

As quickly as I could, I changed my status to Invisible, hoping he'd leave me alone. But, no luck. He sent another IM:

**DemonFalcon: **ur invi. y?

Okay, so I got myself into this mess anyway. If I hadn't answered to his e-mail and changed names and moved to another town, I wouldn't be having to talk to him or her or it. So, I sent back an IM.

**1010kunoichi: **DemonFalcon.

**DemonFalcon: **pretty shy for a fly.

**1010kunoichi: **?

**DemonFalcon: **i c u dnt like d ball anyweis.

**1010kunoichi: **Yeah. Who are you?

He didn't answer.

**1010kunoichi: **But you know me?

**DemonFalcon: **yup yup tenten

**1010kunoichi: **Are you in Konoha High?

**DemonFalcon: **senior

**1010kunoichi:** Prove it.

I need to be judgmental. I can't trust him just yet. What is he _is _a stalker? But it's pretty stupid of me to be actually talking to him.

**1010kunoichi: **Well?

**DemonFalcon: **ur batch sissy.

**1010kunoichi: **Everyone knows that. Any other proof?

**DemonFalcon: **u like uchiha meh.

Okay, fine, he's got that right.

**1010kunoichi: **I'm not convinced. One more proof.

**DemonFalcon: **well ur hot. :D

Automatic blush over there.

**1010kunoichi: **Still not convinced.

**DemonFalcon: **ur loss.

**1010kunoichi: **Why'd you send that e-mail to me anyway?

No response.

**1010kunoichi: **Did you want to tell me something and was just giving off mixed messages?

Still no response. This is getting stupid.

**1010kunoichi: **Well, just wanna say that we share the same perspective at the Ball. Going?

**DemonFalcon: **going stag.

**1010kunoichi: **Why?

Again, he didn't answer. Then, minutes flew by. He's still online but he's not sending any IMs and I'm just staring back at the screen. Definitely, thirty minutes have passed and both of us were silent. But, finally, he said:

**DemonFalcon: **nyt.

Then, he went offline. Strange guy. Freaks me out a little but I have to tell Neji. Lee's the last to know. Talking to this guy is like co-writing impassive poetry.

As I logged off, I lazily pushed away from the computer and fell onto my bed behind me. I breathed in as I stared back at the blank ceiling. The rain kept on getting harder outside. I swear that if the rain falls tomorrow night, that's gonna be a bad omen.

And there, tired and frustrated, I closed my eyes and gently drifted to sleep.

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**There you go. Getting weird, but I promise that it'll be better soon. The next chapter will be posted soon. And please answer the poll in my profile. It's also for the story. Thanks!**

**Kankuro: Story's not sappy but it stinks.**

**Me: Thank you for the encouragement –sarcastic-.**


	5. Metal Rock and Fireworks

**School's coming back in 19 days more or less School's coming back in 19 days more or less! Agh! –pulls hair-**

**Kankuro: Woohoo!**

**Me: I can't update my fan fics everyday anymore! Wah!**

**Kankuro: Double the Woohoo!**

**Me: But, hey, I updated my first chap fics every other day since I was working on it during the school year so… I don't have a problem.**

**Kankuro: Minus one Woohoo.**

**Me: And here's the next chapter!**

**Kankuro: Negative one Woohoo.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Four:_

"_Of Heavy Metal Rock and Explosives"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

This is a very, very bad omen.

"Ever heard of an umbrella, Tenten?" Neji commented, ransacking his locker for his gym towel. He's such a great friend to actually go through the trouble of having to look for his junior gym towel (which is probably lost) just to get me dry.

Here I am, dripping wet in the middle of the first hall, leaning on my closed locker as I got weird looks from the passing students. I didn't dare open my bag. I'm sure that I'd just find drenched notebooks and soiled homework and it'll just make me feel worst.

"It's not my fault, I said," I tried to defend myself, glaring at Neji, "It was fun and sunny and it even seemed to be forty degrees centigrade outside three hours ago! Then, _woosh_! The rain pours on me like I'm jinxed."

Neji found his gym towel and handed it to me as he mumbled, "Three hours ago? Tenten, no one goes out to walk to school at 6 a.m. You know classes start at 9, technically. People who wake up at 6 to get to school are ravers and kids who have insomnia."

Insomnia. Gaara.

"The tickets!" I blurt out, accidentally sprinkling rain drops onto Neji's face as I turned sharply to him, "I got up early to get the tickets! They must be soaking wet in my pocket!" Oh, gawd, this isn't my day.

Neji and I worriedly stared at my side pocket. Should we dare go check on the tickets? If ever I find those tickets torn or doused, I'll own Neji big time. Bigger than last time!

Still, I had to check on the tickets. Slowly, I sunk my hand into my pocket and tried to feel any dry paper and maybe, miraculously, the Metallica tickets had a barrier of some sort that makes them waterproof.

"Only two are ruined."

Thanks to the thickness of the material used for the tickets, only two got wet. The other three are saved.

"I'm hoping two of them wouldn't want to come." I sulked, flapping the ruined tickets to make them dry up and fast. Then, the moment of truth had come.

Gaara, Kankuro and Temari are coming this way.

"Tenten, come on, ask them to tonight's concert already." Neji pressured me, gripping my wrist as he glared back at the Beach Sibs, "This is like this one time in your life when you can finally go really find out if Voldemort really _is _Harry's father! Go!"

"He wasn't, idiot!" I growled, snatching my wrist away, "And besides, I can't just ask them straight! I gotta beat around the bush a little, pretend it's coincidental!"

He rolled his eyes then muttered, "Fine." He had an idea. He grabbed me by the wrist and took my hand above our heads and he screamed, "Free tickets to the sold-out Metallica concert in the Desert Gale!"

Real smart.

A crowd of people ran to our spot and frantically tried to snatch the tickets from my hands. I was just lucky that Neji had a grip on my wrist and was bringing my hand higher to keep them out of reach. "Hey! Down, dogs! Sit!" Who knew there so many people who were in love with the music?

Of course, the Beach Sibs (well, only the guys, though) turned their heads to look at the tickets and in a few seconds, Gaara motioned for Kankuro and Temari to follow him through the crowd to the tickets. Temari rolled her eyes and Kankuro looked like a cat getting a reward.

Neji pulled on my wrist, making me reach higher and it was just unlucky of me to have him almost five inches taller than me. It felt like my arm muscles were going to be torn off. Then, a calm and collected yet demanding voice halted the frenzy.

"Three please."

I took my gaze around to check out who said it, but no doubt it was Gaara. Soon, from within the crowd, he came out with his rock star brother (complete with an _empty _guitar case latched across his back) and his computer whiz sister. His panda eyes were fixed on me.

"I said I want three tickets." He repeated himself, glaring at me with those metal blue eyes, "You said they're free, unless you were bluffing."

Neji let go of my wrist and even as I set my hand down, no one dared to take them away. And Neji had to go on with his 'plan'.

"Y-Yeah, they're free but…" Neji tried to make up a way to have these end up in the Beach Sibs' hands, "Seeing the fans of Metallica here, we can only give it to the number one fans… The three most number one fans, to be exact. And I want you guys to prove your fandoms."

A lot have walked away already, but about ten remained, including the Beach Sibs.

Two guys performed one of Metallica's songs with their acoustic guitar in front of us. They keep saying that they were number one fans since they're obsessed enough to actually study the band's voices and try to alter their own voices to theirs. Of course, no one was convinced.

The two guitar buds were out.

A guy and two girls formed one group and showed off their tattoos of the Metallica members on their backs. Really freakishly obsessive, but the two jocks who had the song lyrics tattooed on their legs proved better (My gawd, these people are freaks.).

But Gaara made a better piece of fandom proof.

Temari took out her cellphone (which she designed, upgraded, bought and even customized herself) and played a video from Youtube showing Metallica in the other year's concert… and Kankuro with Gaara were standing on stage, jamming with them.

Whoa…?

Obviously, we gave the tickets to the Beach Sibs. All three tickets and I think I'm sure about Temari going there out of force since she was whining when Gaara told her to get one ticket. She doesn't have much of a choice since her brothers are going and she has to guard them.

"Say," Kankuro then said before they left us, "Why're you giving these away, anyhow? These cost a lot. I couldn't even afford them, shockingly." His arched brow and angsty scowl made me gasp softly. Wooow…

Neji shrugged and made up an excuse, "Tenten and I were supposed to go with three other pals but they declined. Didn't want the tickets to go to waste, that's all." Of course, the wet tickets were still in my pocket. Hopefully, they'd keep their shape and wouldn't rip so we can still use them.

"That so?" Kankuro smirked, showing some of his teeth. Only now did I notice that his right tooth at the side was pointed and it made him look like a bad boy. Nice touch, if you ask me, "Well, we'll try to spot you guys there. Thanks for the tickets again." He waved the tickets and gave them a smack.

Neji raised his brows while I made a cheery smile and waved to them. Gaara kept his baby bear smile on as he paired it with those devilish eyes (not a good combo but it works for him) while Kankuro smiled back with an eye in a wink. Was that for me?

"Are…"

I spoke up, mumbling. The Beach Sibs turned to me and gave me a questioning look. I said, "Are… Are you DemonFalcon, Kankuro?"

Why did I say that?

He chuckled and answered smoothly, pulling on his guitar case's handle a little confidently, "If you want me to be…"

"No, no. I mean, is your chat name DemonFalcon?"

"My chat name's 3n3my. Wanna chat?"

"S-Sure?"

"Check you out after the concert, then."

And there, the three walked away. I felt my cheeks burn and I swear my eyes were literally blowing off pink hearts like in those dumb cartoons. Kankuro… Why didn't I see this guy before?

_Pinch._

"Ow! What was that for?" I yelled, slapping Neji across the cheek after he pinched my waist. He rubbed his cheek after my slap and growled, "Don't go asking people about that DemonDove guy…"

"Falcon."

"Dove, Falcon, Eagle, Chicken, Quail, Featherless Mongolian Cuckoo Kiwi Mongrel! They're all birds!"

"Well, it just came out, sorry! Couldn't help it."

He eyed me angrily and suddenly asked as he pulled his calculator out from his locker, "Y-You talked to him last night, you said?"

"Yeah. He IMed me and I was dumb enough to answer."

"Idiot."

He slammed his locker door shut with a loud slam and he then turned to the other side of the hall, "I'll meet you at recess and lunch break. Then, we'll try to get those tickets dry. Look for Lee and tell him about it." He shouted back as he ran through the hall.

I nodded to him and shouted back, "Hey, your gym towel--…"

"Give it back later! I'm late! We're late! I still have a Trigonometry test today so I gotta hurry if I want to have the cheats pass by my seat! See ya!"

Cripes. He's right. I took out my Biology books out of my locker then rushed down the hall… with Neji's towel hanging from my shoulder.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

The first time I heard Metallica was in Neji's Ipod. Hanabi downloaded it without his knowing. Neji was someone who'd listen to any genre of music but his Ipod is packed with coffee shop blues, jazz, soft listening, classical… Old people stuff.

I didn't mind so one day, we were sharing headphones and just listening to his Ipod. The tracks were all real soft and relaxing but then, one of the Metallica tracks blared through the headphones. It was a shock for the ears and we couldn't hear well for days.

Up till now, Hanabi hasn't taken out those Metallica tracks from Neji's Ipod.

Still, I'm here in the middle of the concert with Neji and Lee (Neji had a ticket. Lee bribed the guy in the entrance.), just absorbing the loud metal rock mixed with the screaming fans and the hooting bums down at our left. If Neji wasn't in a good mood, he could've punched the lights out of them.

"Where are those three?" I impatiently looked around to spot anyone of the Beach Sibs, "Do you think they got the tickets then _sold _them? That is not sane."

Those three can do anything with everything. Gaara can sell half a pencil for three hundred bucks and have it sold in three minutes. Kankuro can sell his guitar for thrice the original price _and _buy it back on the same day. Temari can buy the school. Period.

Anyway, it was good to see Kankuro and Gaara walking towards us with Temari tailing them. She had earmuffs over her ears. Such a disappointment to metal rockers everywhere.

Kankuro and I exchanged greetings while Temari and Gaara just raised their brows at us (But Gaara didn't dare make eye contact with Lee. Status thing?). From what I'm seeing, they don't exactly look like they're enjoying themselves.

Except for Gaara. He was jumping around yelling "Metallica Rules!" before we called to them. Hypocrite.

But then, Temari gave them an annoyed glare and muttered to her brothers, "Can we get this done and over with? I think my ears are going to just explode. Not even the earmuffs can protect me." Kankuro rolled his eyes at his sister and mumbled something about 'not appreciating good music'.

The brothers gave each other a nod and Kankuro began, "We don't usually do this, but we're inviting you to come with us. Like explosives?"

Neji, Lee and I exchanged looks then replied simultaneously, "Uh, no."

Gaara rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Too bad. Still goin' with us?" Neji shot me a look that yelled 'No' in the plainest way. Lee appeared to be getting more and more eager by the second. If we _do _go with them, it'd get my chances of getting one of them as my ball date, right?

"Sure!" I replied.

I swear Neji wanted to strangle me on that moment. Lee squealed… for the nth time.

With the Beach Sibs, we walked out of the concert venue and found the sandy vista of Desert Gale before us. Desert Gale, after all, is just some dusty piece of desert outside town. It's deserted and this concert is the first event to be held in this sand dump.

Once again, Neji pinched my side and growled lowly in an infuriated tone. Walking past me, he muttered, "You owe me three."

"I know. Sorry." It was all I could say.

The six of us kept walking until we were some distance away from both the concert place and the town entrance. What the heck do these guys want to do?

Then, they stopped. "Alright, this is a good spot." Gaara said, stomping onto the sand below his feet. Kankuro nodded and took off his guitar case. Surprisingly, it wasn't empty this time… it was full of fireworks.

(In case anyone's wondering: He just brings the guitar case around in school to show off. He can't play the guitar. But he sings well. So, so well.)

"Whoa." Neji murmured under his breath as he watched Kankuro take out a firework after another. How many did he have with him? And how did it all fit inside that one guitar case? Anyway, Temari approached my group and explained everything.

"These are fireworks from this year's New Year festival. Yeah, we smuggled them. You guys seem like a lot of fun so we decided to share the fun with you." She said, shaking a matchbox with one hand, "But you gotta swear that not a word comes out that _we're _doing this, okay?"

Did we have a choice? If we blabbed about it, we'd be taking some blame, too, since we're with them. The cruelty of the world.

We just nodded and promised that our lips are sealed. We watched Gaara plant the fireworks on the sand side by side in a row. Indeed, no one was around to witness anything but one firework is enough to summon the local police from the town.

There was a rather flat and wide boulder nearby and we were instructed to go behind it so we can see the fun and stay safe. There, I sat beside Kankuro and Neji. Lee, of course, sat beside Gaara.

"We do this a lot, you know," Kankuro mentioned, turning to me, "And every time, the cops never get to catch us. Pathetic, actually."

I just nodded and giggled without much consciousness. For the third time today, Neji pinched my side. But this time, I didn't dare slap him. We watched Temari rush to the fireworks and light every one. By the time she lights the last one, she still has time to rush to the boulder, though.

And there, she lit the last firework and ran back to the boulder to join the group. Impatiently, we waited for the fireworks to go off and they did…

But they didn't shoot to the sky. They exploded on the spot.

"Cool." Gaara chuckled with a smile. Is he a pyromaniac or what?

On the other hand, Lee bent lower and covered his eyes, screaming of hell and Shakespeare.

Temari just sat there, arms across her chest looking calmly as if she expected it.

And my best friend, Neji, stared back at the explosion like a child in awe.

I made the oddest reaction. I yelled, "Fridge nuts!" I am such a sissy.

Then, the weirdest thing happened: Kankuro took my hand and mumbled, "Shouldn't let that scare you, you know. Just an explosion."

I wanted to scream. _The _Kankuro, Gaara's rocker brother and the object of admiration of half of the school was _holding my haaaaand._

I don't know why he did that, but I am so sure it wasn't accidental!

Then, when the explosions died out, Lee leapt out of the boulder and shouted out at the top of his lungs, "That was so awesome! Like fairy godmother's dress under a twinkling glare of a black and orange Telletubby!"

That has _got _to be the weirdest piece of poetry he has ever made.

"That has got to be illegal." I commented, staring back at the dust and mess the fireworks made. Indeed, fireworks, generally, _are _illegal.

"We know it's illegal," Temari said, standing up from her place as she brushed the sand off of her skirt, "That's why we run."

And off she went ahead of all of us. As for the rest of us: We didn't start running until we heard the police sirens wailing and getting louder by the second. Across the Desert Gale we ran, all five of us minus Temari who went ahead, laughing and having so much fun.

By the town entrance, we caught our breaths and panted, still chuckling from the experience. "We gotta do that again one day." I laughed, turning to Kankuro. He beamed back and he replied, "Why not? Once we've got another batch of fireworks, we'll meet again."

And there, I just nodded. Gaara fixed his hair and wiped every trace of emotion off of his face before dully saying, "Come on, Kankuro, we better catch up with Temari. And you three, shut up about this."

The two Beach brothers walked away and before those two were far enough, Kankuro called out to me, "Oh, and I'll chat with you tomorrow morning, Tenten! I'm 3n3my, okay? Night!"

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

**DemonFalcon: **had 1 hell of a nyt princess 1010?

I was typing on my PC after Neji walked me home when the IM came. I wasn't in the mood to be talking to this stranger again since Neji gave me the cold shoulder. He says the holding of hands was unnecessary and equally crappy.

I really don't know if he's overprotective or if he thinks I'll replace him with Kankuro.

Still, I answered back to the IM.

**1010kunoichi: **Awful night, if you ask me.

**DemonFalcon: **fireworx are fun u know. fraid arnt ya?

**1010kunoichi: **How'd you know about the fireworks thing?

**DemonFalcon: **cops. says teens set off fireworks at desert gale. wanted 2 c if u were responsible so I asked. u gave d answer away honey.

**1010kunoichi: **I see.

**1010kunoichi: **You have contact with the cops??

**DemonFalcon: **nope. ur firework antix in d news dope.

**1010kunoichi: **Crap.

**1010kunoichi: **Great.

**DemonFalcon: **u say it wuz awful nyt 2nyt?

**1010kunoichi: **Yeah.

**DemonFalcon: **y so? cops didn't catch ya so celebr8 dope.

I didn't answer immediately. I grabbed my phone and called Neji's number to tell Neji what DemonFalcon is saying. He had to know. I just hope he's not angry enough to ignore me. But when I waited for ringing, the line was busy. That's strange. Neji's direct line is _never _busy since he doesn't have much of a social life.

Maybe he's talking to Lee…

**DemonFalcon: **still alive?

**1010kunoichi: **Yeah, yeah.

**DemonFalcon: **so hws ur hunt 4 d grad ball d8 comin?

**1010kunoichi: **Bad. It might look like I'm going stag. How about you?

**DemonFalcon: **no d8. stag I told u already.

**1010kunoichi: **Oh, yeah, I remember.

**DemonFalcon: **need advice?

**1010kunoichi: **Sure. Talk to me.

Hey, I'm desperate.

**DemonFalcon: **well xori cant help ya. I know nothing so cant help ya. dunno ur prob.

**1010kunoichi: **You make sense.

**DemonFalcon: **I do coz im right nd that's coz, nigga.

**1010kunoichi: **Are you a gangster?

**DemonFalcon: **gee u think dope?

**1010kunoichi: **Sorry.

**DemonFalcon: **ds s all d advice I cn tell ya fer now: if uv got a prob with urself that affects ur way of getting a d8, ask a friend w/ xperience. Xample: if u suck at looks, ask advice from a good-lookin pal. If u suck at d8 tests, get a pal whos got xp.

**1010kunoichi: **Date tests?

**DemonFalcon: **kissing dope. Kissing is d ultim8 date test. It's a plus 4 d guys. U kiss good, ur good.

**1010kunoichi: **Ew.

**DemonFalcon: **ur prolly lucky if u didn't have a 1st d8 with a guy hu did a d8 test on u if u dnt hve kissin xperience.

**DemonFalcon: **did my advice help?

**1010kunoichi: **Not exactly.

**DemonFalcon: **ur welcome.

And there, he went offline. This is getting interesting… and irritating.

I dialed Neji's number again and found his line busy again. I left a message:

"WHO THE HECK IS DEMONFALCON?! HE'S DRIVING ME CRAZY! IF YOU'RE HIM, I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU BUT YOU GOTTA AT LEAST TELL ME THE TRUTH! SOME FRIEND YOU ARE IF YOU LIE TO ME! … Call you tomorrow."

Tomorrow's Saturday, so I'm going to be hanging out with Neji and Lee. Hope things'll be fine by then.

Hmm... but DemonFalcon did help me a little. Come to think of it, I think the only things holding me back from snagging a date are: my label and... dare I say it, my lack of date test experience. This is weird, but what if Kankuro or Gaara or any guy I might like to snag as a date _does _do a date test on me.

Fine, DemonFalcon. Your advice helped. I need to find a close friend who'd help me with my 'date test problem'. The label problem is beyond me. I can never change that, duh.

So... who has kissing experience that can help me? Hm...

That's it! ...Neji.

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**There.**

**Kankuro: You made me a rocker? Nice.**

**Me: I was hesitant. Reviews please! Thanks!**


	6. Lessons

**Can I make a confession?**

**Kankuro: What?**

**Me: I made up the term 'date test'.**

**Kankuro: Obviously.**

**Me: So… that means…**

**Kankuro: That means you're a real maniac with tentacles and radioactive eyes.**

**Me: No. It means… I own it! –pause- Right?**

**Kankuro: I dare not say yes or no.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Five:_

_"Lessons__"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"What the hell are date tests?"

I gawked back at Neji. He didn't know what date tests were? Okay, so I didn't until DemonFalcon mentioned it to me. Maybe 'date tests' was 'gangster speak' for making out. Sick in my case, though.

The rain is driving me crazy. This morning, I got up early to go jog to Neji's house and invite him over to a fast food chain for a food trip. Man, we love to go on breakfast food trips. The three of us would burn our pockets and gain three pounds in one morning.

Then, after noon, we'd rush to Neji's condominium and go to the gym, then to the smoothie bar, to the pool, then to the sauna. I love Saturdays. But since it's raining, I can't jog there, the pool would be 'contaminated' (Lee's term) and the food trip would be a muddy one.

Neji got my message last night. He said he wasn't home last night until 11 p.m. since he had to pick Hinata up from a party. I left the message at 9 and was chatting with DemonFalcon at that same moment. So, either Hanabi or one of his other relatives was probably using the net or the phone.

Before I even woke up, Neji was already in my room. He dropped by to apologize but he had to wait for me to wake up. My parents let him in. He drove here with Lee so we can still have that Saturday food trip.

And right now, I mentioned date tests to him and here it is.

After he asked me what date tests are, I answered, "DemonFalcon said they're like… kisses on first dates. Guys do them most of the ti--…"

"Perverted and flirtatious guys, maybe, but _I _didn't do that when I had a girlfriend!"

I squeaked on my bed as he stood before me while Lee was downstairs, raiding the fridge, "DemonFalcon says that it's a good idea to turn to friends about social problems that affect my way of getting a date."

On that sentence, his cheeks burned a light pink but I don't know if it was a blush or if it was because he was fuming mad, "And what makes you think _I _can help you with that crap?"

"I dunno…" I rubbed my bare arm, suddenly embarrassed, "I just thought… since you had an ex, maybe you'd have some 'date test' experience and you could give me tips and maybe even teach me how--…"

"No, no way." Neji drew back, giving me a pissed look, "I know nothing. Back then, my girl did most of the smooching. It's just something that comes out naturally, I guess. But… I gotta admit that I learnt how to do it properly from my ex… in a movie house."

I realized that we were mentioning his ex-girlfriend too much already. And there, Neji rubbed the back of his neck under his ponytail and grumbled, "Hm, so are we going to the food trip or what? Or are you going to stay home and wait for either Kankuro or DemonDove to go online?"

"Food trip." I replied, pushing the covers off of my legs and I rolled out of my bunk. I stretched my arms and yawned then muttered to Neji, "Give me some time to dress up. I'll be done in a few minutes." And with that, I marched to the bathroom to get myself fixed.

I ran out of the house after getting dressed and kissing my parents goodbye. Neji climbed onto the front seat to man the wheel but Lee then offered to do it instead (At this time of the morning, Neji is almost half-asleep. I wouldn't let him drive unless I had a death wish.). Luckily, he agreed.

We arrived in the fast food chain at 7 a.m. and we entered the first restaurant: The Itchy and Racky's Ramen, Fish Cakes Etc. Lee used to work here, but after a customer found a bushy and rather long strand of thick hair on his soup, Lee got fired.

Even until now, as Lee sits beside me in our booth, he wishes he could just break down here and yell, "I did _not _put that stray hair on the man's soup! I swear! I speak the truth! So sue me for exposing the truth!" Good thing Neji's around to hold him down.

Being back in this place brings back memories, actually. This is the first time where the three of us met.

We were second graders and our whole batch was on a fieldtrip. We weren't studying in Konoha High yet. We were still students from the Leaf Graders Academy. Our fieldtrip was to some farmland off the town limits and we were on our way home. We just stopped by for a quick bite.

I was happily holding up a thermos of milk I got back at the farmland. We were allowed to milk the goats and I remember Neji milking a _male _one. Anyway, I was so proud coz I got the most milk from my goat. I was holding it up and everyone stared back in awe.

Now, Neji was pissed coz his goat's 'milk' was yellow and mine… well, wasn't. So, he walked up to me, unscrewed the cover of his thermos and poured his 'goat milk' over my head. I cried.

While my teacher was making me shut up, Neji was just standing in front of me, looking sickened and green. He must've been grossed out at what he did. The teacher scolded him and she asked him what he was supposed to say to me. She meant an apology, but Neji didn't apologize…

The only reason why Neji looked a little sickened was because we was uneasy. He had drunk some of his 'goat milk' earlier. And there, he threw up on me… in the same Itchy and Racky's Ramen, Fish Cakes, Etc. branch we are eating in right now.

Lee ran up to me and hugged me, making some of Neji's barf stick to his over-alls. Take note that I had no idea who he was back then. So, all three of us were lathered in puke and, even Neji, ended up crying. I was still crying from the 'milk' shower, Neji cried because his tummy hurt and Lee cried because we were crying.

From then on, we were friends.

Three fast food restaurants later (We needed a time skip, people.), we were seated in Jolly Holly's Hot Dogs and Burgers. The only breakfast item they sold there were sausage burgers. So, three sausage burgers it is.

Usually, the food trip would take us to almost ten to eleven fast food restaurants and then, Lee would probably throw up at the twelfth. By then, we'd rush to Neji's condo, lounge in his living room, then go do the weekly 'work out' after. It's all fun, anyway.

Neji was folding the table napkins into deformed swans while Lee stared at the silverware, wiping them clean every now and then as we waited for our orders. I, on the other hand, kept my gaze on the counter and once our orders would be there, I'd squeal. Weird.

But then, Lee blinked and blurt out with a groan, "I think… I think I'm gonna throw up."

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

Lee threw up in our booth at the Jolly Holly's branch we were going to eat in. In our six years of Saturday breakfast food trips, this is the first time we've only gone to less than five restaurants (the most was all seventeen restaurants in the chain). We placed the sausage burgers in doggie bags.

As Neji unlocked the door to the condominium suite he lives in (He lives with Hanabi, his uncle Hiashi, his grandmother and his hamster.) and once we set foot inside, he found Hanabi and his grandmother, challenging each other with the pinball game they have in there. My, they're rich.

Neji's uncle, Hiashi, on the other hand was seated on the velvet couch, spooning caviar out of a can while he watched 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' flash across his flat screen TV's screen. Seeing the show, Lee hopped onto the couch and watched, too.

"There you are, Neji," Mr. Hiashi said (Yeah, yeah, I call him Mr. Hiashi.), turning to Neji at the front door, "You have to pick Hinata up later at around six o'clock then bring her to another party at 8. Oh, hello, Tenten." I waved back at him and smiled. It was all I could do.

Upon hearing my name, Neji's grandmother looked up from the pinball game she and Hanabi were playing and squealed, "Tenten! You're here! With that rain comin' down, I was beginning to think you wouldn't come! And Lee! Care for some mashed potatoes in wasabi?"

Nana (as we'd like to call Neji's granny) made great food, from cookies to Lee's favorite mashed potatoes in wasabi. No one can resist. When we were invited to eat, too, Neji shook his head and walked to his room. I followed and closed the door behind me.

He had the biggest room in the four-bedroom suite since he shared it with Hanabi. His stuff was all pushed to the left side of the room while Hanabi's were at the right. It was pretty easy to differentiate which side is which since Hanabi's side is decorated with Metallica and Counting Crows posters while Neji had the laptop in his side.

Lazily, Neji threw himself onto his bunk and sighed. "It's just 8:15, Tenten, so we'll go to the gym at 9:30. Capisce? Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need a nap." I can't believe him. It's morning and he wants to take a nap. I just nodded as I watched him lay his head on his pillow and gently close his eyes.

I sat beside him and looked around, rather bored. Whenever I came over, I didn't dare go out of his room. I'd suffer the consequences. Mr. Hiashi would give me angry looks, like a typical chauvinist. Nana would stuff me like a turkey before Thanksgiving, but she's so nice, you know.

Yuki, Neji's mutant and weird hamster, poked his head out of the covers and scurried to me. He's always in his hamster ball since he doesn't have a cage so he's free to roam the place. He's not exactly a mutant. He was just an experiment.

When Neji and I were freshmen, we were lab partners in Science class. Yuki was part of the experiment we had to do for our test. We needed a grade higher than B-. Neji decided that he could prove that beer is bad for the health by giving some to Yuki (But he drinks beer himself… moderately.). There _were _side effects, but we didn't expect the effects to be this odd.

Yuki's fur grew extra fast in three days and it all frizzed up. His teeth did, too, and it turned yellow. His eyes were freakishly gray and he doesn't eat or drink anything but beer. Without his dose of beer, Yuki would go nuts. Put Yuki beside an ordinary hamster… and he looks like King Kong.

And so, our experiment got a C. But who cares? Neji got a pet.

(A/C: If anyone's wondering, this _really _happened to a _real _hamster in a _real _science experiment. Freaky but cool.)

Anyway, I sat there beside Neji on his bouncy bunk, just cooing at Yuki as I stared back at him, as he looked adorable from inside his plastic ball. I threw him up in the air and caught him, making squeaky sounds as I did. This kind of thing made Neji squeamish, but I was just glad he was asleep.

"Were you serious?"

The sound of Neji's grumble made me turn to him with Yuki still in my hands. "Pardon?" I asked him, questioning what he meant. He didn't blink his eyes open and he repeated, "Were you serious?"

"About what?" I snapped at him. By then, Yuki had rolled out of the room, seeing that I'm busy talking to Neji now. Neji then bothered to open his eyes but he merely stood up from his bed, walked to the door and shut it… complete with a click. He locked it.

I arched a brow as he turned to me and proceeded to lean on the door. He had a smirk on, something he only did whenever he was talking to his girlfriend. Knowing Neji, he wouldn't just smirk because he wanted to. He smirked for a reason.

"Were you serious when you were asking advice from me about those dumb 'date test'?" He asked, making things clearer.

I rolled my eyes then sat up, saying, "Obviously."

"Then, let's do it."

"D-Do what?"

"Uh, the lesson."

"Lesson? What the hell do you mean?" I growled, arching a brow as he kept his sinister-ish smirk on. Something was telling me that this is going to get weird. I unconsciously gulped.

"Kissing lesson." He plainly answered, placing his arms across his chest as he removed the smirk and transformed it into a scowl, "Didn't you want them earlier? Now I'm going to give it. No fee, duh."

I blushed, "Are you serious?!"

"You still haven't answered my question. Do you want the lesson?"

This is totally whacked. Neji Hyuga, my best friend and the dork I've known to have a thing for Hermoine Granger in sixth grade, was giving me a look only a pretty boy made (Fine, so he is one.). That small pout, the arched and perfect brow, the angsty stance… Is this some sort of instant metamorphosis?!

"Tenten. Answer me."

"How are you going to teach me this… lesson?" I curiously asked. Seriously, as I look at Neji right now, he appears like he's a total stranger. First of all, he has _never _looked smexier than Shikamaru Nara till now. Second of all, he was the one who disagreed to giving the 'advice' earlier.

Why is he willing now?

"I'm using the same method my ex used on me."

His ex? Well, what the hell was her method? Gawd, don't tell me…

"We're gonna do it _now_?!" I screamed, getting uncomfortable on his sheets. I felt myself back slowly and I grew slightly… uneasy. Who is this guy who claims to be Neji Hyuga?

He nodded and explained, still wearing the pout, "We're just in my room. The lock on the door works. No one will disturb us, I swear. Plus, do you have any other time this week? The sooner this is done, the better, right?"

He made a lot of sense… so un-Neji-ish. Is the hot-guy-reincarnation working up on him today? Gasp.

I looked away and asked, "Well, what's your… method?"

And on that moment, his smirk was back on. He got his back off of the door as he slowly walked towards me. I felt my sweat run down my cheeks and soon, he was crawling to me. Soon, he was already pressing his body on top of mine! And when I thought he was going to kiss me, he took something out of his pocket…

A rubber duck with the biggest lips I've ever seen.

"This is Squishy." Neji introduced the toy, squeezing it to make it let out a shrill noise, "He's got oversized lips. Kiss them until you get good." He chuckled and tossed Squishy into my hands. I looked back at the rubber duck and just let out a high-pitched, "Okay."

All I did after was go limp and sigh in relief.

"What did you think was I going to do? Kiss you? Hah!" Neji jeered, getting off of me. I let out a nervous chuckle but I mumbled, "Hehe, honestly? Y-Yeah." He arched a brow and gave off a blush. He turned away and explained, "Anyhow, I'll tell you all about kissing and you practice on Squishy."

Yech. I can't believe he's serious about Squishy.

"Alright, alright." I admitted defeat. He got hold of his computer chair, sat on it the other way around (You know, where he leans his chest on the back rest?) and faced me, starting, "But I gotta see what I'm dealing with first. Kiss Squishy."

"But, I--…"

"Kiss the damn rubber duck!"

I groaned in complaint but I just breathed in and… well, kissed the rubber duck's lips. It seemed so awkward and I bet Neji wanted to burst out laughing as of now. When I quickly drew away from Squishy, I gave Neji a disgusted look and waited for him to say something.

"I used to do that, too," he plainly commented, not even holding off a laugh, "You put too much pressure. And you just crash your lips onto Squishy's. You know, it's not about pressure… or teeth… or spit. It's just making the lips touch, that's all."

"Then kiss Squishy, damn it!"

"I'm not the student!" He screeched back, giving me a pissed look. "Lesson Number One: Take your time. Try again. This time, don't rush things."

Once again, I kissed the duck. I swear I could taste the rubber in my mouth and it makes me wonder: Whose rubber duck is this?

"Lesson Number Two:" Neji went on after I turned to him again, "The idea is to make the lips touch softly, add very little pressure, no teeth and definitely no spit. Please, no spit. Just that. Also, the lips have to part together gently."

"Hey, I'm kissing a bath toy! Of course there's no spit!"

"So what's that?" He pointed down on my lap and when I turned to see what it was, I found a few drops of my spit. I didn't know I was actually salivating. I slapped my hand onto the spit and wiped it off. I shyly smiled and mumbled, "Oh, okay."

"It's a little easy this way," Neji added, "When your lips meet, talk silently. Just say a word silently, any word, and I guess it'll work. Try it."

Why do I get myself into these kinds of things?

The minutes went on. Neji talked about breathing during kisses since if I do run out of breath, I might die (joke). He also mentioned that I should tilt my head a little to avoid bonking my nose against my partner's (Squishy didn't have a nose, though.). Neji also said that kisses aren't necessarily on-target. But the best ones were.

And if you ask me, I think I _am _getting better.

It was already about five minutes to 9:30 and Neji finally told me that I wouldn't be needing Squishy anymore. I almost jumped off of the bed and when I finally threw Squishy to the other side of the room. With a squeak, he hit the wall.

I threw my arms around Neji and squealed, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I almost threw him off the computer chair, "I can't believe you actually helped me out with this! Thank you, thank you, thank y--…"

"You haven't graduated yet, Tenten." He said, pushing me away. I blinked back at him. Aw, this isn't over yet?

I gave him a confused look, "Huh? Do I have to kiss ten more rubber ducks to 'graduate'?"

"If we base this on a real high school class," Neji replied with my arms still around him, "You just passed the quizzes… with straight Bs."

I sulked but he continued, "Now, you have to go through the final exam."

"Which is…?"

"Well," Neji muttered, slightly stammering, "To see if you've _really _mastered the lesson, you'll have to kiss me."

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**Kankuro: I can't help but ask: Where the hell did you get those kissing tips thingies?**

**Me: -stutter- I got it from a book.**

**Kankuro: You bloody liar!**

**Me: I swear! –blush- I read it from a book!**

**Kankuro: Are you sure? –eyes suspiciously-**

**Me: I'm honest! I'm honest!**

**Kankuro: -takes out lie detector- Oh yeah? Let's see…**


	7. What Comes Next

**Kankuro: Are you absolutely, positively sure you got everything about the kissing thing from a book?**

**Me: -yawn- I told you already a million times yesterday. Now, stop bothering me.**

**Kankuro: Oh, yeah? Prove it! Which book did you get the tips from?**

**Me: -grabs and shows a random book- Here.**

**Kankuro: -reads cover- 'The English-Waikikian Waikikian-English Modern and Traditional Dictionary'? You got it here.**

**Me: Whatever.**

**Kankuro: -snatches book- Lemme see. Which page?**

**Me: Hell do I know.**

**Kankuro: -flips through pages-**

**Me: -whispers to you- There's no such thing as Waikikian. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Six:_

"_What Comes Next"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I have to what?!"

No offense to Neji, but I couldn't help but scream.

He didn't react as if he was offended. In fact, he kept the frown on, "It's… nothing personal." He said, turning away, "Coz, honestly, no one else in the world has the lips of a rubber duck, if you ask me. So, get some experience with… a human, or something."

He's making sense, yet again.

I was hesitant. I mean, this is freakish. He's my best friend and he couldn't be _possibly _be flirting with me… right? He says it's nothing personal, of course. It's a lesson…

I realized that I hadn't answered in a few seconds and the silence was eating us up. So, he pushed away and said, "Alright, I guess we can skip that." He let out a forced laugh, "Well, I guess you graduate, alright. You pass. Congratulations."

He smiled back at me and I was sure I was just gawking back at him with red cheeks. Then, the weirdest thing came out of my mouth…

"But… I want to take the 'final exam'…"

What the hell…?!

And on that moment, he gave me the most disgusted expression I've ever seen. Honestly, I've never seen him do that before. His scowl turned into what looked like a half-smile and his right eye seemed to have twitched. "Gawd, Tenten, I was kidding about us kissing, you know."

"No! I-I mean, I just want you to… uh, you know, evaluate how I've improved. That's all." I need to ask myself: Why am I trying to snag a kiss from Neji? Of all the guys! Of course, it's better than trying to kiss Lee… but N-Neji?! It's almost illegal.

He arched a brow at me and stammered, "Really, Tenten, this is unnecessary and I'm sure you're already good at it. So, what do you say we just… go to the gym now, huh?" I saw that he was sweating a little and he was inching his way to the door.

I don't know what's coming over me. Why am I doing this? But, oddly, I didn't stop…

"Just one kiss."

What the hell is wrong with me, anyway?! Why am I asking for kisses?! Why?! Was I _that _desperate to have a guy kiss me?! I was desperate enough to actually ask that favor from my best friend! I'm a freak!

But something tells me that it's not desperation. It's… something else, I guess.

"You really want to test your new 'skills', huh?" Neji joked, reaching for the knob, "Well, try it on Sasuke or Kankuro."

When he said this, he turned the knob to unlock the door. But he didn't proceed to opening the door. No, he turned to me again and asked, "Are… Are you serious you want to try it on _me_? Won't it be… what, weird?"

Yeah, sure, weird. But what unwritten rule would we be breaking? It's just a kiss. It's not even one I'd consider my first kiss. This one's like a test. Practice. Preparation. Nothing special. It'll be just once and never again. A harmless and completely authorized kiss.

I saw in Neji's face that he was most probably thinking of the same thing. He's actually reconsidering. And before I knew it, he let go of the door knob, walked to me and instructed, "Do your stuff."

"Wh-What?"

"Kiss me. I just want to see how you've 'improved'."

"Oh. Okay."

To tell the truth, I didn't know what to do. It's easy for Squishy. I'd know where to place my hands. I wouldn't have to worry about spit so much. I don't have to know how to react. I don't have to watch out and try not to bite anyone's tongue. But, Neji isn't a rubber duck. He's human.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing the two of us closer and I didn't know where to put my arms at all. I peered through every part of him and soon, I just placed my hands on his shoulders. Hey, what else could I do?

I gulped a little and I swear that I've never seen Neji this close before. Because of that, I never realized that he had lavender in his pearl eyes. What a find.

"What's next?" I chuckled under my breath, slightly embarrassed. He snickered, too, and just coolly asked, "What do you think is next?"

Oh, yeah. I get it.

I was so unsure of what to do, but I found myself reaching for his lips. He, on the other hand, had also tried to reach for mine. Our heads were in a slight tilt, like he taught, and in a second, I was kissing Neji. It was just a soft brush of the lips. His breath was so warm inside my mouth and I gotta admit: Neji's a pretty great kisser.

Not exactly like Squishy…

…This felt great.

_Creak. _"Hey, guys!"

The cheery voice and the sound of the door opening disturbed the 'test' and immediately, Neji drew his lips away from mine with a tender smack. We both looked at the one at the door, caught red-handed. We found Lee.

Oh my gawd.

As Neji and I stood there in the middle of the room in each other's arms, Lee looked like he was either going to puke or faint. "Crud." Neji mumbled as we both stared back at our friend.

Quickly, I let go of Neji and yelped, "You saw nothing!"

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Yes, Lee. Neji was practicing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on me. It's for Health class on Monday."

Who knew that Lee could be so gullible and clueless? As I sat there in one of Hanabi's bathing suits (WOW! THEY FIT!) in the same sauna with Neji and Lee, I was just glad that Lee bought the CPR excuse. If he didn't, we'd be in trouble.

"Oh, I see. And did it do you two any well?" Lee questioned, eyeing the two of us. In the little wet and wooden sauna room, we all looked like sweating tomatoes. We were red from the heat but I think I'm still red from the kiss. Neji is as pale as ever.

Neji just nodded on his bench and mumbled, "Yeah, sure, I guess I'll get an A and Tenten will, too." Strangely, he brought his Narnia book with him. Come on, who brings a book to the sauna? Not even the batch bookworm does that! Come to think of it, I think the bookworm doesn't even go to the sauna.

I turned to him and said, "It's not really a good idea to bring books to the sauna, you know. If you get that wet, Hanabi will kill you." As I poured more water on the coals before me to make the place warmer, Neji hissed, "Hey, don't make it any hotter! It's warm enough!"

"It's not even 50 degrees yet…"

"Well, if Lee starts to hyperventilate, _you _bring him to the clinic. I don't want to go from floor to floor, carrying him like last time."

Bad memoir. The three of us were in the sauna, like always, and then Neji and I were planning something new. We took three pails of water and dumped it all onto the coals. The more water you poured onto the coals, the warmer the place gets.

The steam made it hard to breathe, but Neji and I kept dumping the water in. At the tenth bucket of water, I couldn't breathe properly anymore. Neji looked like a million girls slapped him. Lee fell over, wheezing and choking in his words, "Help. Help. Ne-ji. Te-n.Te-n. Help. Me."

We burst out of the sauna, letting the steam escape. Neji slung Lee over his shoulder and ran to the nearest elevator to get to the clinic. The sauna's in the fifteenth floor and the nearest clinic is on the damned twenty third floor. People we're giving us odd looks, saying, "Why are two teens in swimsuits with a dehydrated and sunburned salmon?"

Even though Neji had told me not to, I poured some more water and breathed in as the coals hissed and sizzled, emitting more warm steam. Then, Lee began gasping for breath. "Oh. No." His voice is dry, "I. Bet. Ter. Go. Bef-ore. It. Too. Late." And he stood from his bench, running out of the sauna like crazy.

Neji chuckled as he watched Lee run to the nearest shower to get himself soaked in cold water then went back to reading his book. "So," I began, looking at him in his black trunks, "How'd I do?" Whoa. Is that… a four pack? Oh, no, it's just three. Still whoa.

"How'd you do what?" He replied, keeping his eyes on the book pages and as he turned it, I gave him a pissed glare and exclaimed, "The test, Neji. How'd I do? Was it alright? Was it sloppy? Do I suck?"

"Oh, you suck, alright."

"I… I do?" It wasn't something I expected, but if he thinks I'm not good at it, fine. "Well, I'm not surprised. It _is _my first time to do it so, technically, to a pro like you, I suck."

"Idiot. I mean you suck… literally. You're not supposed to suck during a kiss."

I froze. Oh, gawd, that was one sick statement.

"No! I mean, suck! As in, suck meaning stink or fail or amateur or… you know… suck! Don't play around with me!"

He snickered and answered, "Nah, you didn't suck figuratively. You sucked, literally, but that's… okay."

"Okay? You just said that you shouldn't suck during a—…"

"I know what I said," he interrupted me, turning to another page, "But you were good. Really good. And that sucking technique…? It really works."

"What do you mean it works?"

"I mean… it works."

"Neji!"

"What? I mean what I said. It works. It's great, it's captivating and it works."

I paused. Was that Neji speak for 'You're a great kisser'? How was I supposed to know?

"Thank you?" I said, not knowing what was the right thing to say.

He just nodded back and kept his eyes on the book. I knew that book. It's the second book of the series and Neji _never _rereads books unless he was either bored or he was trying to seem like he's busy when he's not. He can't be bored. Not with Lee and me. Never.

"Hey, Neji," I called to him, leaning forward to catch his attention, "Did you use Squishy, too, when your ex was teaching you how to kiss?"

When I asked him, he didn't even look at me. His gaze was fixed on the pages, but it was obvious that he wasn't reading. His eyes just pace back and forth but nothing comes into his mind. It's like he's reading the same paragraph over and over again coz nothing makes sense to him.

"Yeah, I used Squishy." Neji finally answered, halting the pacing of his eyes, "Squishy used to be Hanabi's favorite toy when she was a baby. Then, my ex came over to teach me how to kiss. She just tossed Squishy to me and, well, she told me what I told you. Okay?"

Through his explanation, not once did he even turn his eyes away from the book pages he was 'reading'. He's avoiding my gaze. Neji is never like that. Sure, to people he hates, yeah, but to me? No. Unless… he hates me now.

I was still curious, "Did you kiss her as a final test, too?"

This time, he answered immediately. "Tenten, don't you remember?" Neji muttered, keeping his gaze on his book, "My ex was just using me to get Inuzuka jealous. She never kissed me or hugged me. She just… held my hand and walked around with me like I'm some trophy. So, I never did a final test or anything like that."

That's something I didn't know. I knew that his girlfriend was just using him, but I didn't know that they never kissed or hugged. Then, maybe that made me the first girl Neji has ever kissed. But with the 'skill' he has, it surprises me.

"Something the matter?" I asked him, concerned. I was beginning to sound annoying, but something was bothering him. What weird thing was bothering him enough to make him bring a book to the sauna?

He arched a brow, still avoiding my eyes, "When are you going to quit asking questions?"

"Once you've answered them."

"I'm fine."

"Liars go to hell, you know."

"Yes, I know, Tenten."

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. Shut up, Tenten."

"Is this about the final test we did?"

"Maybe."

"You hate me for it?!"

"Who said I hate you?"

"It just…" I stopped and glared at him, then continued, "…looks like it."

He didn't answer after that. He busied himself with the book. Piss me off, eh?

"Oh, come on, Neji, it's not like we did the kiss because we liked each other, right?!"

Once again, he kept quiet. He still didn't look at me and my eyes grew. I repeated, "R-Right…?"

And there, he sighed and stood from his bench, excusing himself, "It's getting too warm in here for me. I'll see you outside." And with that, he brought his book with him, pushed the sauna door's exit and left, leaving me inside the sauna alone.

Neji does more mood swings than me experiencing PMS.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"W-Where's Neji?" I asked Lee, who was playing with a rubber band at the smoothie bar as he sipped on his guava-mango shake. I don't know why he likes that stuff.

He shrugged and said, "The last time I saw him, he was in the showers."

"He's not in there."

Lee let some of his shake squirt out of his nose, "Y-You checked?! You went inside the Men's lockers and _checked_?!"

Obviously, I blushed and screamed back, "No! I just… assumed, that's all! You go check on him, then!"

"He wasn't there when I went."

"Then… where is he?"

Lee shrugged and went back to drinking his shake. I rolled my eyes and said, "We'll I'm going to the gym and check if he's over there. We're going to my house for midday snack. Then we'll hang there and go pick Hinata up." And I stomped away, on my way to the gym. I swear, Neji does an awesome job on hiding.

After a quick peek at the gym, I didn't find him. As I was on my way back to Lee, I felt a firm grip land on my arm and it turned out that Neji pulled me to the side. "Hey, I was looking for you. I--…"

"Tenten, shut up and just listen to me first."

I arched a brow and said, putting my hands on my hips, "What is it? Lee's waiting for--…"

"Lee?!" He exclaimed, then rushed off, still holding my arm. Man, what a grip he had. I think he's going to tear off my arm, "Neji! What are you up to? The hell is wrong? Why're you dragging me? Where are you taking me?"

He didn't answer and soon, we reached a broom closet and he shoved the two of us inside, clicking the light inside the closet open. "The hell are you doing?" I freaked out, "Why are we in the closet?"

Great, he locked the door again.

"You have to listen up now, okay?" He told me, eyeing me furiously. He didn't do that kind of glare. He did when he was angry, yeah, but not usually. I nodded and prepared to listen.

It was pretty awkward, actually. The broom closet is pretty small and if I back off any farther, I'd bump onto the wall and a few mops. Neji was actually less than inches away. In fact, I think that's his pants' material brushing against my bare leg. What the heck is this?!

"I don't want Lee to hear any of this…" He mumbled, in a position as if cornering me. Poor Lee never gets to know anything. "This is about... the final test. This is gonna be hard to tell you. But I have to."

My eyes grew. Oh, gawd.

"I'm... I'm not exactly a good kisser, huh?" I sulked, disappointed.

"No!"

"Stop pretending! You can tell me the truth!"

"No, uh, hey, you're a real good kisser. Great job and honestly, I don't think you should really take this seriously..."

"Then, what is it? Did my breath stink?"

"Damn it, just listen to me!"

_Fzzzzzz._

"Aw, sh--! What was that?!" Neji jumped up, tingling all over. I realized that it was my phone in my front pocket. Wow, was Neji near enough to actually _feel _my phone vibrate? Brr.

I shot my hand into my pocket and checked who the caller is. It's an anonymous number and I had to answer it to check who it was. I pressed the button on my phone and said, "Hello?"

"Tenten?"

"W-Who's this?"

"Uh, is this Tenten?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"It's Sasuke Uchiha."

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**Kankuro: I'm betting Neji's DemonPeacock.**

**Me: Falcon.**

**Kankuro: Oh, sorry. Rephrase: I'm betting Neji's FalconPeacock.**

**Me: -sigh-**


	8. Night of the Century

**My head hurts and I really don't know why I still bother to write this chapter. Must be cause you guys will kill me if I don't update soon.**

**Kankuro: Pushover!**

**Me: Oh, quit it, Kankuro. Just this once, can you please be a good guy?**

**Kankuro: Oi! I've always been a good guy! You're the evil fan girl thing whatever!**

**Me: Ugh. Just… keep quiet and let the story just flow.**

**Kankuro: Is that all? I can do that with my hands tied down.**

**Me: Well, I hope you can do it without your mouth sealed with duct tape.**

**Kankuro: Bet on it!**

**Me: Oh, gawd. By the way, guys, DemonFalcon said in the other chapter that they were graduating in 7 days… meaning the Grad Ball is in 6 days. It's how it went with my experience so please bear with me. Tenten is on her third day of the date search so she's got three more days. Got it? Thank you.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Seven:_

_"This is the Night of the Century__"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"S-Sasuke?"

When Neji heard me say that name, his eyes grew in surprise. I saw him furrow his brow and open his mouth to probably say something furious, but he ended up hesitating and storming out of the closet, leaving the door open.

What the heck is wrong with him? Is it illegal to talk to Sasuke?

Neji has always been the one telling me that one day, I'll get Sasuke. One day, he says, Sasuke won't be my untouchable dream boy anymore. Why is he the one who seems to be pissed now?

"Hello? Anyone there?" Sasuke called my attention from the other side. I kept my gaze forward, to the open doorway as I answered to him in a mutter, "Look, Sasuke, I'm sorry but can you call me back in a—…"

"I can't. I'm just going to ask you a favor, Tenten. It's about the Grad Ball." Sasuke replied, stopping me from finishing the sentence. His voice seemed to be such a soft whisper with all that drunken laughter and blasting music in the background.

A favor? From Sasuke? And it's about the Grad Ball. I felt myself gasp and wheeze a little, "R-Really?" I stammered, "Well, what is it?"

He didn't answer immediately. I heard him talk to someone first before telling me, "I gotta tell you privately. Mind passing by here? I'm in Naruto's house. There's a party over here. You're not gonna be alone here coz there are other people here like Ino, Shikamaru, Hinata, the usual."

Privately. The word echoed in my head. Plus, Sasuke Uchiha was inviting me to _gatecrash_. "I… I'll try." It was all I could say.

I traced a small and satisfied snicker out of him and he finally muttered, "Awesome. I'll see you." And he hung up.

Okay, recap. How'd Sasuke get my number? Why is he asking a favor from me about the Grad Ball when we're not close friends? Why did he want to ask me this favor privately? Since when did I, Tenten, agree to gatecrash to a party? And what's with the snicker?

Too many questions and just one answer: Hell, who cares?

I pocketed my phone again and rushed out of the closet (How nice to have a phone call there, no?). Whatever Sasuke wanted to ask from me, I'd have to hurry to that party and talk to him unless I want to miss something not worth missing.

"Neji?" I called out, turning to the left to check if he was there then to the right to see if he was nearby. No luck. I shut the closet door and briskly walked to the smoothie stand, hoping he'd be there. Luckily for me, he's there with Lee, drinking his (and my) favorite vanilla shake (I don't know why they serve that in a smoothie stand.).

At the sight of me, he coughed a little and almost spat some of his shake out. As he wiped his lips with a tissue, he questioned with his usual tone, "Hey, Tenten. Wha'd your dream boat have to say?" Here he is, talking to me like he didn't storm out of the closet, annoyed.

I threw him a surprised and doubting look before explaining, "He wanted to ask a favor from me but he said he'd rather talk to me… 'privately'. So, he told me to meet him in Naruto's party and—…"

"Perfect. Hinata's there." He interrupted me. Seriously, why is everyone cutting my remarks? He got off his stool and left his half-finished glass of shake on the counter, "If we go there now, you can see your Sasuke-babe, I can keep an eye on my cousin and Lee can go harass the ice sculptures."

Sasuke-babe?

He walked away, making his way to the elevator. Lee hopped off his stool after paying for his and Neji's drinks, giddy to go share some poetry with the ice sculptures (He does that in every party he goes to.). I was hesitant, but I took Neji's shake and drank it on my way to the elevator.

I couldn't help it.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

This is a party? It's more like a food fight, a riot and a coup de tat all done inside a neon lighted mansion.

To my left, at the stairs, there were people throwing popcorn, soda and chips at each other. But only the nachos were left on the floor, making the melted cheese stick to my sneakers. To my right is the couch, full of jumping and screaming partygoers with beer bottles along with some couples, making out. But everywhere, there are people dancing to the RnB beat.

We lost Lee but we assumed that he's at the buffet, looking for an ice sculpture. Come on, will a party like this have a 100 buck ice sculpture? Neji said he'd stay in the car. I bet he got uneasy from the swirling neon lights. I went to look for Sasuke.

Pushing past everyone else, I squeezed through the crowd and even fell on a dog. Then, at a corner, I saw Sasuke seated at a small coffee table with two bottles of soda on the tabletop. I felt myself quiver as I walked to him.

When he saw me, his brows arched and he greeted me, "Hey, Tenten. Thanks for coming by. Sit." He pointed at the chair across him and as I sat there, I knew something stuck to my butt. Whether it was gum or a lollipop, it's beyond me.

"What did you want to ask?" I started, looking back at Sasuke down his soda. Oddly, I didn't feel so awkward and shy at this encounter. He slammed the bottle back onto the small table with a clink and explained, "Remember how I told you that I was going to the Ball with Sakura?"

I nodded and recalled it very well. "Well," he began with a mumble, "When I said that, I hadn't asked her to the Ball yet. I was a little… afraid. Then, yesterday, at the last baseball game of the year, something happened."

I arched a brow, curious to know what had happened. Then, Sasuke looked like he was going to stand up… but what happened was: he showed me his wheelchair. Sasuke was seated in a wheelchair all along with his ankle in a cast. He must've sprained or broken it.

"I tried to do a slide to home base to save the game…" He explained, "Yeah, I'm supposed to be a first baser, but that's the point. I pretended to be a batter since coach didn't notice. I swung, I ran, I slid, and I lost. And I broke this. Real nice."

I gotta admit that it's both heroic and stupid. But what did I have to do with this? More importantly, what did the Ball and Sakura have to do with this? But he continued, "And Sakura wasn't there to watch me, luckily, coz she had a library shift, so she doesn't know what I made the team lose."

That was just one good thing, though. Since Sakura didn't see it, he wouldn't feel so humiliated. "Anyway," Sasuke spoke again, "I don't know what to do, Tenten. I can't ask Sakura now since I've got myself in a wheelchair. Who wants to go to the Ball with a handicap?"

Handicap is such a harsh word, Sasuke.

The only real problem Sasuke has is this: he's underestimating Sakura. I know she'd understand and knowing how much of a sweetie Sakura is to Sasuke, so she'd completely understand. Besides, I bet Sakura's just waiting for him to make his move. I'm sure she'd rather go stag than go without Sasuke.

"So, you gotta help me with this little something." Sasuke then said, eyeing me with a smirk.

All I did was nod again quietly and wait for him to explain everything. "Since I can't ask Sakura," he said, "She's gonna have to ask me."

I don't like where this is going.

"You and Sakura and friends, right? Not exactly close, but friends, I'm sure. Just tell her that girls asking guys to the Ball a la Sadie Hawkins Dance is in. I mean, you're doing it, right? Go tell her. If she gets influenced enough, she'll do it and ask me." He told me.

Hearing this, I wanted to decline. This isn't something I'd call a 'flawless and fool-proof plan'.

He looked back at me, expecting an answer, more of a 'Yes, I'll do it', I guess. But I can't give him that. "Sasuke," I tried to oppose to his plan, "Honestly speaking, that won't work. Compared to you, Sakura's shyer. You can't expect her to ask you to the Ball. Besides, I'm positive she'll agree to go to the Ball with you despite the cast. I mean, she loves you."

Clearly, Sasuke was blushing and he grumbled, "Right, like she isn't starting to like Naruto and Lee, too."

Whoa. Lee? No offense to Sakura, but she's got some pretty awful taste. I know Lee's my bud, but I'm just being honest.

Strangely, I couldn't help but pity Sasuke at the moment. I didn't know someone like him, someone I've labeled as my dream guy, would actually have these kinds of situations. He's got good grades (exclude Chem) and he's doing fair in baseball. Plus, he looks decent. He's one of the few guys in Konoha High who haven't snapped my bra straps during class (Neji has done that before.). Plus, he's semi-sweet…

An average Joe with a certain dreaminess.

But I had to push Sasuke to do what he has to. Even though this will help him and him alone (I'm losing any chance of ever ending up with my crush as of now! Hear me: I am not selfish after all!), I'll still reach out. A nice guy like him deserves what he deserves.

"Is Sakura here?" I asked, leaning towards him so he can hear clearer.

He glanced at me and muttered, "I think she's at the backyard with her pals. She doesn't know that I've arrived."

When he told me this, I grinned happily and added, "I've got a better way to get Sakura for you. It's the easiest way, after all."

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

The ride home was rather hushed.

Neji drove while Hinata sat beside him at the front. Lee and I were just counting red cars that passed us silently. I don't know what provoked the stillness that comes around rarely. Even the radio was turned off. The only noise we heard was the revving of the engine and the occasional swears Neji made whenever he nearly kills us all by overtaking a car.

I can't believe Hinata. She's slightly tipsy from drinking light beer at Naruto's house (Mr. Hiashi would kill us if he finds his daughter in this state.). She hiccupped in her seat, playing with her jacket's broken zipper every now and then. Her next stop was a party at Choji's.

We dropped her there and Neji told her that he'd pick her up in a few hours. We planned to drive to my house for a few snacks (Actually, we're supposed to be having dinner by now. How weird that we spent so much time in Naruto's party.) but Lee's mom called up.

She wanted Lee home since they still had to go watch a play in the cultural center in fifteen minutes. So we drove to Lee's house and dropped him off there. Neji and I left without seeing his parents. Seriously, they'd bombard you with questions (Like "Do you like broccoli in vinegar?").

So that left only the two of us. We went to my house and since my parents weren't home, we had to help ourselves. I grabbed a galloon of Rocky Road ice cream and two spoons while Neji filled two cups with Diet Coke. We both went up to my room to watch TV, listen to the radio… the usual.

We both sat on my bunk, facing the television with the ice cream comfortably on my lap. Every now and then, Neji would get a scoop from me. Lamely, we were watching Saturday night cartoons.

I turned to him and found him just staring out the window with his spoon in his mouth. What is he, depressed or something?

To ask what was wrong, I took my hand from under the ice cream container and patted his arm, saying, "Hey, something bothering you, bud?"

He snapped to me and flashed a nervous smile, "Nothing, nothing. Something just got into my mind, that's all." He tried to fix his grin until he threw his gaze down at the ice cream and mumbled, "Say, can I have some more?"

I giggled and placed the container on his lap. And he hasn't stopped poking at the ice cream, eating none of it but the marshmallows. Usually, he'd eat everything and he'd just spoon the marshmallows to me. It's so cute when he does that. But he's not himself right now.

Heaving a sigh, I spoke, "What did you want to tell me back there in the… closet, anyway?" Okay, saying that with the word 'closet' made me feel so weird.

"It's still in your mind, eh?" he chuckled, still poking the ice cream, "Uh… I just wanted to say that you're doing better than great. I didn't want Lee to hear coz… well, he doesn't know that the 'CPR practice' was actually a kissing lesson. That's all."

Obviously, I didn't want to believe it. But seeing how creased his forehead is, I'd rather not bother him about it. But I still wanted to find out.

"Seriously, you think I'm going to buy that, Neji?" I chuckled, gently slapping his arm in amusement. He grinned sheepishly and muttered, changing the subject, "Tenten, which college are you going to after graduation, anyway?"

I leaned on my pillow, scooting nearer to him and yawned, "Aw, I'm staying in Konoha High. I'll just take my courses there. You know, so things won't be so complicated anymore. What about you?"

He hasn't stopped poking at the firm ice cream and finally answered with a tiny beam, "My uncle said that it was my dad's will to have me study college in Mizu University. It is, after all, one of the best. If I pass the entrance exam, I'll have to study there then."

Mizu University?! That's more than three days away from here! If Neji has to study there, he'd have to go live in a dorm. He'll be so far from Konoha, from the town, from his friends, from Lee… from me…

"Oh my gawd, Neji, that's so damn far!" I exclaimed, giving him a rather shocked and saddened expression. He raised his brows in acknowledgement and he went back to jabbing the ice cream. Wasn't he at least worried that we'd be apart by the time we graduate? That's not fair.

"So… the Grad Ball is the last time we'll be having fun together?" I choked, glaring at him with dropping eyes. Neji laughed and disagreed, "Don't make it sound dramatic, Tenten. I'll be there on graduation. But after that, I'm going to Mizu City to submit requirements for the university and all."

Despite the explanation he gave me, I'm still right. On graduation, we'd be too busy with getting the diploma and all… Would we even see each other beyond the stage on that day?

"You idiot, why didn't you tell me?" I asked, looking at him with my arms across my chest. But I got a plain shrug as an answer. My gaze was thrown downwards and I said nothing. What else did I need to say, anyway? Maybe that's the reason why he seemed so disappointed. He'd be moving off.

Turning the television off with the remote, I mumbled with a shy smile on, "You know, Neji, I never told you that you've always done a great job with your hands…" Wait, wrong way to say it. No, no. Erase!

Hearing that, he gave me a dismayed look and said in disgust, "A great job with my hands?"

I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment and I stammered, "What I mean is, you're really great at… massages. You know? Like last time, when you were getting the goop off of my hair? It was… relaxing and all. Get me?" That was something very gauche and kinda was supposed to be the last thing I'd admit to Neji.

When I got that cleared, he snickered and replied, "Yeah? Hm, I'll take that as a compliment, I guess. Technically speaking, you're the only one who'll probably tell me something about it since you're the only one I do that on. I guess it stuck to be that way."

He went back to playing with the ice cream after that. I was beginning to feel sorry for the ice cream. But then, I took the container and the spoon from him, placed it on my bedside table. I then requested, "Do me a favor and do it again."

Is it me or did he blush when I said that?

"Do what?" he asked.

"The massage."

"Which?"

"The one you do when you shampoo my hair. But this time, do it on my back."

"Uh… why the hell?"

"N-Nothing. I just want to get to feel it one last time, you know."

He rolled his eyes, "Right."

"I mean it!"

"Heh, alright, alright. I'll do it this one last time."

Seeing that I won and got it my way, I squeaked and immediately, I lay down on my stomach, facing the blank television and demanded, "Okay, Neji, work your stuff." I had my chin resting on my pillow and I was ready to get the same relaxing feeling… Ah, I feel limp just thinking of it.

I heard Neji crack his fingers and stretch his arms. Soon, I sensed his slender and soft fingers on my shoulder blades. As he kneaded my shoulders with his fingers, I couldn't help but smile thinly and loosen up. Gawd, he still hasn't lost his touch.

He was silent as he did the massage while I kept on muttering "Oohs" and "Ahs" in between. I swear I could just sleep on the spot at this very minute from the relaxation I'm getting. I'll be frank: Neji can snatch a girl with just his massaging skills.

He went on, gently running his fingers down my back and even on my shoulders, rubbing them. Each movement feels so smooth and I swear that sometimes, I feel a tingling feeling that just suddenly makes me giggle all of a sudden. My eyes were next to closing and I was so sure that I was already drifting to sleep. I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it.

Then, as I was going to fall asleep soon, I felt a warm feeling near my ear, somewhere near my neck. Against my skin was a soft and affectionate yet foreign touch. I wanted to snap my eyes open and roll over to see what Neji was doing. But no sense came into me. Besides, this little feeling I'm sensing is the best as of now.

But, soon, I found myself giggling at the ticklish yet enjoyable feeling down my neck. _"Oh, gawd," _I thought with shock, _"Is… Is that Neji leaving kisses down my neck?!"_

Shit, it is.

My eyes still didn't open at my command. I knew my mouth was ajar and I think my spit was even dripping down. Gawd, I gotta shake Neji off of me. I know it's marvelous that he's actually great at kissing, but does he have to prove it even more by doing _this_?

Wake up, Tenten! Yes, I'm half-awake but I'm not awake enough to stop Neji!

Hold up… Why _do _I want to stop Neji? Heh, this… actually feels kinda… good…

Oh my gawd, now I'm _enjoying _it?

I can still feel his breath down my neck and I knew my senses were failing me. The massage, the kisses… everything's so beautiful, I'm falling for them all in all, like a trap! Oh, gawd, Neji! I am going to kill you once I've managed to break your spell on me!

Then, I heard him whisper…

"Tenten…"

Shut up! Shut up! You jerk! You're supposed to be my friend! My best friend! Why are you doing this to me? Why the hell are you—?!

"…Back there at the closet, I wanted to tell you what I wished the kiss was real. I wanted it to be more than a practice or rehearsal… more than a test play… a try-out… Gawd, Tenten, I wish it was real…"

Real? What the hell do you mean, Neji? It was real! You felt it, too! Why do you want it to be real when it is?

"…Real as in… A real kiss something done out of love…"

Oh, gotcha. … Wait… what?!

"Tenten… will you be my Grad Ball date…?"

Grad… Ball… Date…?

Neji wanted _me _to be his Grad Ball date? Is he kidding? He must be. But he doesn't smell or sound drunk so… Gawd, does he mean it? Wasn't it illegal to go to the prom or the ball with your best friend?…

Wasn't it…?

And I knew that before I just let go of trying to slap some sense into myself, just before my eyes gently shut so I could sleep…

… I failed to say yes when I wanted to.

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**Okay, I am so, so sorry but I couldn't help but add that ONE, TINY, LITTLE swear word in. And this isn't lemon, technically. Come on, guys, it's not lemon as in HARDCORE lemon! Oh, and the filler for what happened to Sasuke will be in the next chapter, I guess.**

**Kankuro: Lemon or not, I enjoyed it!**

**Me: -wide-eyed- That's a first.**

**Kankuro: You took it seriously?**

**Me: I am really sorry if I offended anyone or whatever, but please tell me in a review if you hate me for doing this or if you completely loved it or if you want to poke my eyes off! I am just so sorry to anyone who hates me for what I did to this chapter! –cries-**

**Kankuro: I'm betting you joined the drama club in high school, too.**

**Me: I failed the auditions.**

**Kankuro: Pity.**


	9. Messed Up

**I am so sorry that I couldn't update sooner! Things, and I mean a lot of things, have been getting in the way! A few of them are school requirements, the internet server (It's still messing up with me!) and minor writer's block… oh, and Kankuro.**

**Kankuro: Oi!**

**Me: Anyway, I am just so, so sorry for the rather late chapter but I really, really hope that it was worth the wait.**

**Kankuro: It never is!**

**Me: Why you little--!**

**-chokes Kankuro a la Homer and Bart Simpson-**

**Kankuro: Y-You… -choke- are sooo… -hack- unoriginal… -cough- -wheeze-**

**Me: Shut up! Shut up! Shut uuuuuup!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Eight:_

"_Messed Up."_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Cut! Okay, thank you so much, guys! That's the last rehearsal for tomorrow's play! Congratulations!"

The sound of the actors screaming in joy and relief seems to be music to my ears. I suspect that I won't be the directress of the College Drama Club so this could be the last time I'll ever say a line like that. My last play for the year is ready for performance.

Looking up at the stage from my director's seat, everyone looks so worn out and enthusiastic at the same time. But no one's more worn out than me. I still have to contact the ticket vendors and I also have to reserve the auditorium for tomorrow's play.

It'll be shown five times tomorrow: twice in the morning, twice in the afternoon and once at 8 p.m., which will be called the gala performance. The only unfair thing I hate about my job is: The money we earn from selling tickets immediately land into the Grad Ball Committee's pockets. That's the purpose of the play performance, though. It's a fundraiser from both the ball and graduation day.

Speaking of the Grad Ball, it's already in two days and I'm definitely not ready. I have both my stag status and attire to worry about. I guess I'll be heading to the mall with my pals later…

Pals. Lee and Neji. Yeah. Honestly, the first thing I did this morning, the moment I woke up, was run to the bathroom and examine my neck for hickies. Really, Neji was slick enough not to leave one.

Since this morning, I tried calling him up, but he wouldn't pick up at all. I wanted to pretend like last night never happened. Maybe he's flow along with that. But I'm guessing he's too embarrassed to even answer my text message as of now.

I watched everyone walk out of the auditorium. Shino passed me, carrying CDs that he used for the background music and all. He eyed me in disgust, pity and utter passivity. I guess he still remembers me as the nerd who got Kiba's mystery gunk onto her hair in the movie theatre.

I'll never look back at Shino the same way again.

When almost everyone was gone, Lee approached me with the copy of the script in hand (He wrote it. The lines are a tad too mushy, but it's Romeo and Juliet anyway.), "Ready to go, Tenten? We must go now. You said we were going to the mall to complete your Grad Ball look, right?"

Oh, yeah. I called Lee to accompany me to the mall to go get matching shoes and accessories for my gown. He pranced around the auditorium, saying, "Once we've got your attire together, you'll be as stunning as Cinderella with Beast's plastic-surgically improved features."

Screw Lee's poetry.

Heaving a sigh, I nipped my lip and muttered, "I think… we should really try to call Neji first…"

Lee knew why I was disappointed. I told him about last night. "He still hasn't answered any of your calls?"

"Obviously."

"Tsk. He must be avoiding confrontation, rejection and conflict like a cowardly knight fearing a dragon with halitosis…"

"Don't call him a coward!" I snapped at Lee, pointing at him with anger, "I'm scared, too. I want to talk to him so badly, but I really don't know what to say. I failed to say yes when I could. I fell asleep, damn it! I messed up! Me!"

Hearing me, Lee gave me a small pout and suggested, "Well, you said he asked you to the ball, right? Make like the love-sick damsel you are and say yes."

Saying 'Yes' to Neji's proposal has always been an option. This is weird, but Neji's the Mighty Trinity almost every girl wants out of a date-slash-boyfriend: Dark, Tall, and Handsome. Okay, so he's pale. But dark as in mysterious a la Bad Boy Stance, especially when he has that bandana on.

Before, I've always thought that whoever becomes Neji's girl, one day, will become the luckiest girl on Earth. I admit it: I wanted Neji to be my boyfriend last year. I just stopped dreaming after he got his first girlfriend.

Shaking my head wearily, I walked out of the auditorium with Lee. I asked him to call Neji to invite him to go to the mall with us. If Neji won't pick up when I'm calling him, maybe he'll pick up if it's Lee calling. Lee put his phone on loudspeaker so I could hear the conversation, too.

After fourteen rings, Neji finally picked up. I was surprised to hear a croaky whisper out of the other side, "I'm not in the mood to talk, Lee."

He has never sounded so sick, so horrible, so damn distressed since his parents died. But, heck, he still sounds attractive, strangely.

"Good morning, Neji!" Lee happily greeted him, "Are you feeling fine as a freshly-pruned rose on the Prom Queen's corsage?"

This will seriously piss Neji.

"Fine?!" Neji growled on the other side, "Did I sound fine, Lee? You wouldn't believe what I did last night, Lee! I was so stupid! Too confident! I messed up big time!"

Lee had to pretend that he didn't know what happened, so he tried to sound shocked when he actually sounds constipated, "What? Messed up? What happened, anyway? You shout like you killed someone."

Neji sighed before answering, "I went with Tenten to her house after bringing you home. We were in her room, eating ice cream and all, then she goes asking me to massage her. I was a little hesitant, but I did it. Then, I found myself kissing her… on the neck! I'm betting she thinks I'm a perverted flirt! A maniac! I'm just glad she didn't break my bones then and there. She probably hates me as of now."

Hearing Neji say all this made me arch a brow. Perverted flirt? That's what I thought before he told me how he wanted the kiss to be real and before he asked me to the ball. Right now, I kinda think it was pretty… romantic?

Lee faked a shocked tone, "No way! This is unbelievable: Like how Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt aren't married!"

…They're not?

"I know, I know…" Neji miserably answered, "Plus, I asked her to the ball. But she fell asleep and didn't answer. I bet she just pretended to be asleep so I could just leave her be. I don't know what to do, Lee."

Hey, one thing's for sure: I did _not _fall asleep on purpose.

"Say," Lee began, "You want to go to the mall today so we can shop for the Grad Ball? It is, after all, going to be a night of elegant fairy dancing, soothing odes of love and twinkle, twinkle little stars."

Neji has to agree to come. I am so sure he won't have anything to wear to the ball. His wardrobe is filled with vest shirts, jeans, plain shirts, bandanas and sneakers. The closest thing to formal wear is a simple and sleek polo and slacks set with a thin, black, scrawny tie. He has no choice but to come if he wants to look decent for the ball.

"Will…" Neji muttered, "Will… Tenten be there with us? Coz I'm not going if she is."

Something hit me somewhere with one big 'Ouch' (Take note: I'm pointing at my heart.).

I threw Lee an irritated look as he told Neji, "Of course she'll be with us!" I was just glad that Neji didn't hang up.

Neji didn't reply immediately. "Then, you'll have to go without me, Lee." Neji said. Bigger Ouch. He went on, "If Tenten sees me, she'll either murder me or slap me for what I did last night."

"She wouldn't!" Seriously, I didn't know if Lee was sarcastic or not.

"Believe me, she would."

I rolled my eyes and thought, _"Seriously, Neji, what do you take me for?"_

Lee blurted out with a rather self-assured beam, "Don't worry about that, Neji, old pal! Tell you what: Come with us to the mall and when you're faced with Tenten, be like a clueless gargoyle with a martini and mimosa and act like last night never happened."

"Stop it with the crappy poetry, Lee!" Neji suddenly yelled on the phone, "It's pissing me off too much!" After a concealed grumble, there was silence. Lee and I exchanged glances and finally, Neji mumbled, "Look, Lee, I'm not ready to face Tenten. I… I just can't, okay?"

Then, he hung up.

I sighed in wretchedness. Maybe things'll be better between us after a while. But I'm not willing to wait that long. If we still can't face each other by the time of the ball, I'll kill myself. What kind of crap have I gotten myself into?

Lee frowned with me and stuttered, "Sorry, Tenten. I tried."

With an understanding smile, I nodded and mumbled, "Yeah, I guess I know how he feels, anyway. Let's just… go to the mall without him." I rubbed my arm uneasily and walked out of the school exit with Lee.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

One of these days, Lee has _got _to get a new car.

Getting seen riding in an emerald green colored Beetle car with a daisy spray-painted on the hood is very bad for the reputation… especially if the daisy was spray-painted on purpose.

I swear that as soon as Lee had parked his car on the fifth floor parking lot, I ran to the mall entrance as fast as I could with a jacket over my head.

Seriously, if anyone I knew saw me, I'll be graduating as 'The Batch Sissy who rides in the Gay Ass' Floral Beetle Car'. It could get worst, but that's definitely horrible as it is!

We went to the department store immediately so Lee could shop for his outfit. As usual, lee was ecstatic, running around the place like a psyched kid with a sack of free chocolates on Christmas. He quickly grabbed one of those hand-held shopping baskets for easy shopping (Be surprised: He picked the green one.) then took off with me just tailing him.

He said he wants a look that screams, "Love me, I am a classical, quixotic, noble gentleman-slash-poet." For every event, he has a theme for his wardrobe. Last prom, he said his theme was: "Respect me, the royal and handsome lover." He arrived in a purple-checkered tuxedo, a red and pink bowtie and a fake crown.

Six sections later, Lee had managed to buy the right cuff links, polo, slacks, coat, shoes and a top hat. Honestly, the clothes looked rather… normal. So, this event's look is plainly a la Willie Wonka.

As for me, all I need are some accessories and a pair of shoes that'll match my gown. Lee, and only him, has seen my gown. It's something my parents got me two years ago. I never wore it, not even once. I asked Lee to alter it and he did a pretty great job. So he knows what will be perfect with it.

"Tell me something, Tenten," Lee began as he held a Bohemian necklace, holding it against my neck, "When are you going to give Neji your answer?"

I could tell that I was blushing because of the topic. I replied while examining a beaded bracelet, "I don't plan to, really. It'll destroy everything… my friendship, my time at the ball, my graduation, my life… everything. I don't want to take that risk."

I paused as I put on a pair of dangling butterfly earrings for size, "Neji and I have been best friends and nothing more, nothing less," I continued, "Saying either yes or no could change that in a bad way. Besides, I'm supposed to act like nothing happened, right?"

Looking back at the reflection I saw at the store's mirror, I saw myself with those cheap, plastic butterfly earrings on. Not just that. I saw my eyes and noticed how droopy they were. My lip thinly scowled and everything else seems so… depressed. Deep inside, I must look worst.

But what am I really supposed to do? What was the right thing to do? When I could be shopping for my Ball garb or asking other boys to the Ball, I'm here, sulking as I think of Neji. Should I go to Neji and… say yes?

Resignedly, I took the earrings off and tried a pair of metallic blue heels. I hated the shoes. The strap squeezed the life out of my ankle. Seated on the store's stool, I just buried my face in my hands and sighed exasperatedly. What's an idiot like me to do?

I took my phone out and dialed his number. The ringing echoed in my ears. Gawd, he's taking too long, damn it. Soon, I just got annoyed and hung up. This is getting infuriating already. Why doesn't he want to talk to me? I don't know why he's such a coward now. I've made my choice. I'm going to go to him now and just talk.

I'll tell him that I felt the same way. I admit it! I also wished the kiss was genuine, real… true…

And I'm going to smack him clear with a loud "Yes!"

What was I thinking? I can't just let it pass. Ask yourself: If your hot best friend had given you a massage _and _kisses _and _had asked you to the Ball last night, can you just pretend the magic never happened? Would you let these last few days before the actual Ball just go by without telling him, "Hey, I'd love to go to the Ball with you, thank you so damn much for asking! I really, really love y—…!"

That's it. I'm going.

"T-Tenten? Hey, where are you going?" Lee called to me as I ran out of the store. Say that I'm out of my mind or whacked and I won't care. Maybe I'll sue you later, but I really, really don't care what anyone thinks now!

I kept running and just called out to Lee, "Go buy the necessary accessories for me, Lee! I owe you! I'm going to Neji's!" And there, I rushed out of the mall and called for a cab.

Oddly, I was grinning inside.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Hey, Hanabi. Is… Neji home?"

Hanabi looked kinda shocked to see me. She stood at the doorway, as if she had seen a ghost. Was I that freaky?

But, seriously, I am an idiot for going here and not knowing what to say. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"Uh…" she started to talk with a tense tone as she held the door slightly ajar, "He's not feeling well. He's got… uh, a rare case of gingivitis where he grows hair on his tongue and boils on his eyes. He looks ugly right now… although he always has…"

"Shut up!" An enraged yet distant voice came from inside. I knew it was Neji.

Hanabi rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath, "He goes telling me to tell people he's sick but he goes ruining it himself…" I wanted to laugh. Hanabi opened the door wider and said, "Come in. My dad and Nana's out, playing cards. Cuz is in his room, eating chocolates all day."

Poor Neji. He really loves chocolate like a lot of sane persons on earth, but he never eats more than one bar a day. I don't know why, but he normally doesn't.

Silently, I pushed his bedroom door open and found him on his bunk, facing the window with a bar of caramel chocolate at hand. He looked really, really miserable and I saw Yuki rolling around the place like a crazed and rabid wolverine. He actually forgot to feed Yuki?!

I dodged Yuki as he rolled out of the room in a rush. The little thing looked like he was starved for days.

Miraculously, he didn't notice me come in. Oh, come on, he can't be so dejected that he'd actually not sense me or ignore me! Unless, I'm dead and he really can't see me. Oh, gawd, I hope that's not the case!

"H-Hi…" I shyly greeted him as I stood at his bedroom doorway, staring at his back.

When he heard me, he heaved a sigh and muttered, "Look, I am so, sorry and I hope you didn't come here to slap me or—…"

"What?! No!" I screamed, giving him a sympathetic expression, "I… But I came to talk to you about… last night…"

"Yes, I was a fool last night, okay!" He yelled, donning a look of fury, "You don't have to come over here to show me how true that is!"

"I didn't come over to do that! I just want to talk!"

"Talk? Or confront?"

"I said talk! Now, shut up for a minute and let me explain first! Gawd, you're stubborn!"

Turning to the door behind me to close it, I saw Hanabi witnessing everything at the doorway. Her eyes were wide in a miniature heart attack. Nipping my lip, I muttered, "Hanabi, please…" Then, I closed the door slowly in her face and locked it.

Once again, I turned to Neji and started, "Listen, last night was great, yeah, I admit it…" I knew both of us were blushing as I said that. He stood in front of me while I stood by the door timidly, "But… I dunno…"

"You're worried about us."

He said those words like he took them away from my thoughts and said it. Yeah, I was worried about the two of us.

I nodded jadedly and went on, "It's just that I don't know how to feel, okay? I mean, do you? We're supposed to be best friends. Then, _this _comes up. It's complicating things and it's making things harder. And… was last night supposed to change anything? Was it supposed to change us?"

All he did was stare back at me and arch a brow. Then, he spoke up, "Honestly, Tenten, I know how I feel. But I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, yeah, but you just think it's complicating things. It actually makes things a little simpler…"

"Simpler my ass!" I screamed, furrowing my brow and clenching my fists, "If it's making _your _life simpler then tell me: How am I really, really, really supposed to feel towards you, huh?"

I saw his eyes widen in mild alarm and probably some misunderstanding. But, really, how am I _really _supposed to feel? Should I just hide and act as if nothing ever happened and just keep going on with him as friends? Or should I let go of concealing it all and just admit it that I wanted to be more? Which would be right? Which one won't break us apart?

"That's your choice, Ten, so don't be so hard on yourself." Neji said, shrugging at me.

What is he? Earlier, he was so blue on his bed, eating those calorie sticks, looking so depressed and now he looks so collected and he's even shrugging shoulders at me?! Why I oughta—…

Wait. He called me… Ten? No way.

I've found a piece of the puzzle. A big one. Someone has called me 'Ten' before... and it's not Neji.

I glared back at him and mouthed these words, "You're DemonFalcon."

He furrowed his brow and snapped, "Hey, I told you about this Falcon guy already! He's not me! I'm as clueless at knowing who he is as you! I have no idea who the hell the dork is so don't go pointing out that he's me!"

"Yeah right!" I growled. I was ready to point out the clues that gave him away, "First of all, you were with me when we saw his e-mail, right? But he sent the e-mail three hours ago before that time… when we were in the school's computer laboratory."

Neji eyed me like I didn't make sense.

"Second," I went on, "He knows a lot about me. He knew about the explosion at Desert Gale, my favorite peanut butter and chocolate waffle and how I like Sasuke! That gave too much away!"

He still had a look that made him seem innocent.

"Third," I could go on forever, "When I tried to call you up when I was chatting with DemonFalcon, the phone was busy. You said you were out the whole night, but you must've just said that to slip through. Surprised that I'm making sense?"

He appeared pissed off. I've got him.

I held out my finger, pointing at him accusingly, "And lastly: DemonFalcon told me that I should go to a close friend who has experience on date tests for help. _You _knew that I'd come rushing to you! You wanted that kiss (And, yes, I kinda wanted it, too.)! You admitted that you wished it was real! You planned it all along!"

"I did not!"

"With all that evidence, you can't deny it: You're DemonFalcon!"

Okay, so his face didn't look shaken, guilty or any expression that said "You caught me." He simply… is just staring back.

"I told you," He snarled, slamming his hand against the door, "I'm not that damn DemonFalcon guy! Stop caring so much for that cyber stalker! You're looking for hope at someone who doesn't really exist! DemonFalcon can never be someone you'll be close to, you know!"

His furious glare drove through me. Something really tells me that even with the evidence, Neji… isn't DemonFalcon. Or is he really just a good actor?

"N-No! Stop denying it! I've caught you!"

"Caught me doing what, huh?"

"Stop playing around with me! You're DemonFalcon! Admit it!"

"Admit it? Please." He threw me an amused look, "I wouldn't admit something that isn't true. Get real."

I'm losing my patience…

"Admit it, Neji! You can't get away from this!"

Then and there, that same old smirk came back. Yeah, the very same smirk he had on when we had that kissing lesson and he probably also wore it last night. There's something about that smirk that puts me on… and off at the same time.

Then, he whispered, "You want me to admit it? Hm…"

His expression seemed to be so inexplicable… but the smirk is definitely driving me crazy! He finished his sentence…

"…Make me."

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**I hope it was worth the wait, guys. It got choppy round this bend coz I got a little case of writer's block. Seriously, I redid this chapter thrice.**

**Kankuro: And it still sucks**

**Me: -sigh- Tell me what you guys think through a review. Thank you.**


	10. Last Play of the Year

**I'm supposed to be busy with school supplies and wrapping books in clear plastic (I hate doing that!), but I bought time to write this chapter. Hopefully, this story will be done before I have to go to school. I think the ending's approximately 3 chapters away.**

**Kankuro: Why don't you go back to what you were doing with your school things and… well, spare me the sick story?**

**Me: -eyes angrily- You know, you piss me a lot but you don't always see me ranting about it, right?**

**Kankuro: Right.**

**Me: So what gives you the right to rant louder and more often?**

**Kankuro: Sorry, already.**

**Me: By the way, this chapter is actually based somehow on my experiences as a director in my school. No, not the drama club's, but I usually direct or write plays or skits for my class or batch.**

**Kankuro: So, you were bossy?**

**Me: Kankuro, I'm still bossy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Nine:_

"_The Last Play of the Year"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Please do not consume foods and drinks inside the auditorium._

Stick that up your ear.

"Really, Tenten," Sakura whispered to me in the props room as she polished an improvised shield, "If anyone catches you eating or drinking in here, you'll get detention. Only Naruto gets detention days before graduation, you know."

I rolled my eyes at her and took another bite out of my beef jerky. Seriously, I think I'd get more than just detention when a teacher finds out… especially since I have a jug of light beer with me.

As I chewed on the jerky, I mumbled to Sakura, "Oh, come on. Do you think I can handle the stress on an empty stomach? I need my brunch." I had air for breakfast and it was definitely past lunch. My last meal was last night. I swear if Sakura tells on me, I'll tear her and Sasuke apart again. But I guess I can trust her. She owes me, after all.

So, on going is the fourth performance for the day. But, honestly, it felt like the millionth with all the mishaps:

Five actors forgot their lines. One came out without a necessary prop _twice_. Two fell from the stage (Oh, the horror.). And three had stage fright simultaneously.

I've had worst cases in the past, but this is ridiculous.

After one more scene, this showing will be over. We'll get half an hour before the next and final performance, which is the gala show, commences. The panic and pressure always kills me, but usually, Neji would come by with ice cream and a smile…

…But guess what? Neji isn't here.

He didn't come to the first, second and third showing. And he isn't here to watch the fourth. Lee, on the other hand, hasn't left his seat. Yeah, he bought five tickets so he could watch all five shows. Sweet guy.

But it's Neji I want to see.

He must still hate me for what I did yesterday. Remember how I yelled around about him being DemonFalcon? And he wouldn't admit it, right? Then he tells me to make him. Seriously, does he expect me to kiss him again? Nu-uh. I'd love to, but I wasn't willing yesterday.

So, because I was pissed, I did something unforgivable…

…I slapped him.

Yes, right across the face. It wasn't that hard, but a slap is a slap. I don't know what came over me. After I slapped him, we just stared back at each other. He held his sore cheek with his hand with a shaken look. I ran out of the room, out of the suite and out of the condominium. I wished a piano had fallen on me.

I'm an even bigger idiot than before.

Now, I bet he still hates me for it. Seriously, who wouldn't? Now _I'm _the jerk. Okay, so fine. I deserve the punishment that he won't come to see my play. Sure, Neji, don't arrive coz you hate me for slapping you… I'll understand…

…Not.

One thing a directress can't accept is having her own best friend not attend the play she herself directed. It hurts.

The other month, I directed a musical for the school festival. It was shown thrice and Neji was there to watch all three shows. And he even bought me a cluster of carnations, which was both nice and embarrassing. More of sweet, though.

It's always like that when I have a play. He's always seated on seat 2C, smiling as he watches and sometimes beaming back at me as I poke my head out from backstage. Then, he'd meet me backstage and congratulate me.

So, technically, it's really disappointing to find Jiraiya-sensei seated on seat 2C instead of Neji. I couldn't help but sigh.

"We got a problem…" Shino burst into the props room with his headphones on. Like always, he's the man behind the sounds, music and sound system. He went on, "The mic of Juliet isn't working. And she's entering a scene right now."

He noticed the jar of jerky and the jug of beer, staring back at it from behind those rust-tinted sunglasses of his. Fine, so I brought food into the auditorium. So sue me!

I heaved a frustrated sigh, "Not a word about the jerky and beer then I'll give you some after the gala showing." I had to make a bargain. Shino nodded in agreement as we walked towards the stage.

Situations like these are so common. I've faced worst, anyway. I took my copy of the script, got a mic and said Juliet's lines when it was her turn to speak. Hey, it works. No one will ever know. Like always, everything is under control. It's a director's life for me.

When fourth performance was finally over, the audience walked out of the auditorium, murmuring and probably talking about how drab the backdrop is (Screw the head of the Settings Committee.). But, Lee stayed on his seat.

I called the whole cast and even the backstage crew onto the stage for a pre-performance meeting. When they were all assembled, I began.

"You guys are doing great!" I lied with a smile. But, really, these guys need encouragement, "But screw the idiot manning the blue spotlight. I'll poke your eyes out later." The guy misaimed thrice and I got absolutely pissed.

I continued, "The next performance will be the gala show, the last for the day and for the year. Let's make it our best." But, seriously, I wanted to scream like a howler monkey, tear my hair off and rant.

I'll be frank: The moron who plays Romeo faked a cheesy accent that sounded like John Travolta with his tie too tight. The lighting of Scene 2.5 was awful. The swords we made broke apart on-stage during the mock fight and the poison let off a scent that smelled like rotten eggs.

I'll never make it to Broadway.

As everyone left for their break till the next show, I just went limp and let myself fall onto the floor. I was sobbing and muttering gibberish. Lee walked to me from his front row seat and tried to comfort me, "Aw, cheer up, Tenten. I'm sure the last performance won't be that screwed up. In fact I thought the last four performances were awesome like King Arthur—…"

"You think anything that has something to do with Shakespeare is awesome!" I bellowed at him in annoyance. Then, my tone changed to what seemed like a sob as I grumbled, "You even think Shakespeare's nose is awesome. It's not! It's like saying Mr. Burns is hot…"

I don't know where that came from, but I must be watching too much of The Simpsons.

He eyed me pitifully as I explained, "Look, Lee, I'm not miserable because of the play. My plays always come apart. It's… Neji I'm thinking of…"

"Why? The slap is over. The deed is done. He'll forgive and forget. Is that what's making you feel this way?"

"Well, yeah. That. And the fact that he hasn't come by to watch any of the performances. He hates me now."

"No! Neji would have to jump into a pit-less ravine filled with omnivorous goldfish before he'd even think of hating you. He's practically your big brother—…"

"I don't want him to be my big brother, damn iiiiiiit!"

Wearily, I sniveled useless and concealed tears as I mumbled, "I know this is a really petty thing to actually sob over, but that's not it. Friends are supposed to be there for each other. Neji and I have always been there for each other. And on this one single moment, his presence means so much."

I mean, if friends are supposed to be there for each other, does that make Neji less than my friend if he isn't here for me anymore?

Still, aren't I taking this too seriously?

As I stood from the floor, I just shook my head and thought, _"Hopefully, he'll be here for the last performance. Then, I'll apologize for everything. For the slap, for that one night… everything. If he isn't here by then, I'm going to look for him…_

…_I am not willing to end this day without giving him that apology."_

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

Now Showing: Act 5, Scene 3. In other words: In ten minutes, this Shakespearean hell is over.

A part of me is glad. A part of me isn't. During this last performance, teachers have started to join us backstage to help out. It's unnecessary, but I can't do anything about it unless I want to end up in the principal's office. I hid the jerky and beer in the cabinet for now.

Since the teachers have been butting into the play, I had to look really stressed, concentrated and serious when in truth I'm just tired and humiliated. So, I had no time to peek from the curtains and check if Neji has arrived.

Only Shino can give me an update, but I still can't face him after the theatre thing.

Once the curtain call is over, I'll have to get on stage, walk to the center, grab the mic and say, "Thank you for watching. May you all have a good night."

Pretty simple, but I hope no one flings a tomato at me.

Nine minutes. This is taking so long.

The actors backstage were already chilling out since they won't have to face the stage anymore for the rest of the play. The actors on-stage, on the other hand, are rushing things. I guess they want this done and over with as soon as possible.

But, seriously, I just wanted to see if Neji even bothered to buy a ticket. So, I cautiously sneaked out of backstage, crawled through the side aisle (I hope no one noticed me.) then burst out of the auditorium. Yes, this was done a la Mission Impossible.

I approached the ticket counter and asked, "Hey, you got a record of those who bought the tickets?"

Shikamaru raised his brows and mumbled, "Yeah. Why'd you ask? Want me to check a name?" Ino was beside him, counting the money we earned. Did I mention that she was a part of the Grad Ball Committee? She eyed me suspiciously, probably concluding that I was flirting with her man.

Fat chance, Ino.

Nodding, I requested, "Can you go check if anyone bought a ticket under Neji Hyuga's name?"

"No prob, Tenten." And there, Shikamaru took out his folder of records and started flipping through the pages. And Ino kept her glare at me.

After a few seconds, Shikamaru said, holding the record labeled 'L', "Neji Hyuga bought four tickets for the last performance. That's all it says here. But I don't know if he went to watch it. Maybe he gave it away or something."

Ugh.

I thanked Shika and reentered the auditorium in silence (to also escape Ino's glares). If I want to get backstage quickly without getting caught, I'll have to crawl again. I wouldn't have the chance to go check the audience if Neji was present.

Five minutes. Wow, I took so long in scurrying from and to backstage.

On stage, I saw the actors portraying the scene where they were already bawling and all in the churchyard where Romeo and Juliet died together. Lee keeps telling me how romantically depressing the scene is, but I always thought that it was pathetic somehow.

I am so eager to end this crap. I listened to the last lines for the whole play. I memorized them, too, so I whispered the words along with the actor saying it.

"_A glooming peace this morning with it brings; The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head: Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;"_

Three more phrases and it's all over. Finally!

"_Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished: For never was a story of more woe…"_

Say the last line, damn it!

"…_Than this of Juliet and her Romeo."_

The actors exited. The audience clapped. Lee stood up and screamed in delight. The whole drama club rejoiced backstage. The teachers smiled simultaneously. And me? Well…

I yelled and happened to be the loudest of them all.

You could say it's pretty low to actually rejoice over a successful and minimally screwed up gala performance… but you wouldn't understand if you weren't the one who directed it, I guess. All I know is: This is my last play and it's certainly unforgettable.

As the clapping went on, I walked on stage, grabbed the nearest microphone and cleared my throat. I opened my mouth and spoke:

"Thank you for watching. May you all have a good night."

There, beneath the spotlight, I grinned before everyone else. It's a great feeling and a rather pleasant moment for me. But as I gazed at the audience with my eyes, I was also looking for him. I was looking for Neji.

Once again, he wasn't seated on 2C. Instead of seeing another person seated there, I found an empty seat.

Empty.

And there, I realized something. Somehow, this moment is also empty without my best friend.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Great job, Tenten."

"Awesome play, Tenny!"

"That was great, Tenten! Congrats!"

"I'm proud of you, sweetie. You made me and your dad proud."

Yes, the last compliment was from my mother. She's actually pregnant and she wasn't even supposed to come and watch. But she did, anyway. And my dad? He was busy this morning. Business was gripping his neck but he came and watched, anyway.

Lee has been here in the auditorium since this morning. And he never gets sick of the play. Some remarkable friend he is. Hinata, Hanabi, Mr. Hiashi and Nana were also there to watch, surprisingly. I don't know how they found out of the play, but they watched the gala performance.

Guess what? Kankuro watched it twice. Wow.

All these people have bothered to watch my last play. That means a lot to me. But, really, I can't believe that of all the people, my own best friend didn't come over to watch any of the shows. Not even half of a performance.

Some friend Neji Hyuga is. If this is because of the slap or some other personal reason, then fine! Be that way, Neji! Be that way!

"Tenten. Hey, someone left something for you."

I turned around to find Hinata smiling back at me as she held a bouquet of roses. Not just any kind of rose! Columbian red roses! Can you believe it? These roses are more than 20 dollars each! And the bouquet has a dozen of them! I love these roses! They're my favorite!

"Oh my gawd!" I screamed with happiness, "That's for me? Oh, Hinata, that's so nice of you. Thank you so much. It must've cost you a lot!"

She gazed away and mumbled, "Actually, these aren't from me. They're from Neji."

…

Whut?

"Yes, uh…" Hinata stuttered with her smile still there, "He didn't go to school today because he needed to submit his third quarter report card to Mizu University. He's in town, yes, but you know how complicated document transfer is. He must've spent the whole day in the post office."

Hearing that made me guilty. Neji had a good reason to be absent, after all.

Hinata went on, still carrying the bouquet, "Anyway, he arrived home at 8:15. He called me up and told me to meet him outside the auditorium. He met up with me with these flowers. He says he bought these with his allowance since he thought it's the least he could do for not attending the shows. He says he's sorry."

I can't believe it. Why didn't he tell me? It's pretty forgivable.

And there, I took the bouquet from Hinata and grinned. Gawd, Neji is still the sweetie he is.

"Neji paid for our tickets so we literally bore a hole in his pocket. I feel guilty, but he said it's worth the cost." Hinata explained.

Hell, I'd give Neji a discount anytime! Lee bought his tickets with a 10 percent discount.

I nodded in understanding and muttered, "Oh, I see." Honestly, I was speechless. Hinata beamed back shyly and concluded, "Well, I have to go now. We'll be going to the casino for poker night. But Neji will be home so pass by to see him, Tenten. I'm sure he'd love that."

Yeah, I guess he'd like that. I'd like that, too.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

When I got home, DemonFalcon was online.

Really, even when I've already caught him Neji still does this? Come on, Neji…

**DemonFalcon: **congratz on ur play.

**1010kunoichi: **Hey, thanks. Did you watch it?

**DemonFalcon: **yep. loved it.

Neji, you didn't watch it. I know. Sheesh.

**DemonFalcon: **can I tell ya something?

**1010kunoichi: **What is it?

**DemonFalcon: **im not stag to the ball anymore. Found a d8.

**1010kunoichi: **Good for you.

**DemonFalcon: **hey, did my tip work? Bout asking a close friend for social help?

**1010kunoichi: **Yeah I guess.

I had to lie, right? And besides, why is Neji talking about this?

**DemonFalcon: **b honest: u think im neji hyuga don't ya?

What the hell…?

**1010kunoichi: **Aren't you?

**DemonFalcon: **ur sick if u think I am.

**1010kunoichi: **?!

**DemonFalcon: **but hey. don't worry. 2morrow's the grad ball. we'll finally get to see each other.

**1010kunoichi: **Oh, yeah. Haha, time flies so quickly.

**DemonFalcon: **yah I guess. Heh. had fun with high school?

**1010kunoichi: **Of course! You?

**DemonFalcon: **uh dudette, don't mean to break it to ya, but… im not even graduating.

What the heck is he trying to say?! Is he playing around with me again?

**1010kunoichi: **But you said you were a senior from Konoha High.

**DemonFalcon: **well im from Konoha high alright. But im currently attending general science class 1.

General Science Class 1? Wait a minute…

But before I had a chance to answer, DemonFalcon logged off. Weird.

I sent a lot of offline messages, but he never went back online. This isn't making any sense. He told me before that he was a senior. Now he tells me that he's attending General Science Class 1?! Gen. Sci. Class 1 is a class for freshmen!

DemonFalcon…

… Are you really Neji Hyuga? Or am I wrong again?

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**You know what, guys? The next chapter is the night of the Grad Ball! Psyched! **

**Kankuro: This'll all be done soon.**

**Me: Yeah, it sucks. But you guys tell me what you think of this chapter, okay? Leave a review! Thank you! **


	11. Graduation Ball

**Hey! This chapter may be a little long so sorry. It's Grad Ball Night, everyone! I'm going to do my best writing this chapter! So sorry if it's too long!**

**NOTE: One portion of this chapter is written under Neji's point of view. Look for the notification.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Chapter Ten:_

"_Graduation Ball"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Karma.

There's good karma and there's bad karma.

This thing I'm experiencing is definitely bad karma.

My parents weren't home. Mom is getting a check-up and Dad's obviously at work. I was too lazy to cook or even reheat anything inside the fridge, so I was idiotically having 'junk meals', as Lee would say it.

I had Dad's donuts for breakfast. He'll freak, but hey, I don't care for now. I was craving for something sweet during lunch, so I made myself two glasses of root beer floats. That made me so damn gassy. For my afternoon snack, I snatched three slices of moist chocolate cake. And hours ago, I finished what was left of the Rocky Road ice cream.

Can you guys imagine how bloated I felt? I don't know why I do it.

Then, I was checking my gown out and found a part of the hem torn off. I had to work with a thread and needle, something I'm not born for. The stitching come out as absolutely awful, but it'll work. I hope no one will notice it, though.

To make things sure, I tried it on. Bad news: I can't breathe in it. Either Lee adjusted the waist or I instantly gained three inches on my waist with all the sugar I consumed. So, I guess I'll have to cope with it or attend the ball in another gown, something I don't have.

And I'm out of hair spray. I'll steal Mom's later.

I spent my time alone in my room the whole day. Technically, I was alone, so I had the right to do anything I want. So, I made my CD player loop-play the song 'Mr. Brightside' by The Killers. Honestly speaking, it's one of the few songs not under the soft pop category that Neji also likes.

I told myself I'd start primping up at three o'clock coz Lee will pick me up at six. But, really, I can't believe that this is happening already.

Grad Ball Night already? It's like those six days weren't six days. They seemed like… three? It's as if time passed by so quickly. Plus, who ever knew that I'd be going to the Ball without a date? And without a best friend? I can't face Neji tonight at the Ball. And I'll be seeing DemonFalcon, too.

If I think about it, days ago, I thought DemonFalcon would make an okay date. And now, I can't even get him as a date.

Earlier, he sent me an e-mail, though…

**To: **1010kunoichi

**From: **DemonFalcon

**Subject: **Grad Ball Tonight

**Yo Ten!**

**You're prolly excited bout tonight's ball eh? I know I am. Just wanted to tell ya a few things before the ball tonight. Cool with that, shawty?**

**Guess you're goin to the ball stag huh? Tsk tsk, but don't fuzz bout it, babe. It's not an issue worth getting worked up bout, gots me? Alrightie, since the ball's the first outdoor grad ball in twenty years, it'll be in the football field. Cmon, man, who thought of that crap?**

**Anyways, meet me at the bleachers. Ya know, the one near the lockers. Yeah, the bleachers that smells like two-year-old brownies. Everyone knows bout it so I assume ya do too. We'll meet there; I hope that's ok. You can't miss me. I'll be the one holding a bunch of daffodils.**

**I know how you look like, so I'll call to ya when I see ya, a'ight?**

**I gotta be real with ya, Ten. I'm disappointed in ya. In all those times when I gaves ya advice for snaggin a date for the Ball, do ya even consider the phrase I keep telling ya? I'm gonna repeat it: Prince Charming isn't that far.**

**What is wrong with yers? Cant ya understand a simple damn phrase? Well I ain't telling ya what it means. Find out fer yerself.**

**Will see ya at the Ball. Ciao.**

**And, by the way: PRINCE CHARMING IS STILL WAITING. IT'S NOT TOO LATE, TEN. NEVER TOO LATE.**

**--DF—**

What is it with the guy and his 'helpful piece of advice'? Is he obsessed or something?

Right now, it's 3:15 and I just got inside the bathroom to wash my hair. It's a pretty boring task for me and I usually don't bother to do it. Yeah, I take a bath and shampoo my hair and all, but I don't pamper myself by conditioning it and all till now…

…Neji's usually the one who does this for me, but what can I do? He can't now, so I'm stuck to do it myself.

As I rested my head on the sink as I let the water cleanse my hair, I listened to the voice messages in my phone. There were a lot, for once. And not even one was a prank call or for my parents.

Three were from Lee, proclaiming how thrilled he is to have the Grad Ball finally tonight. He says he's going with his third cousin instead of his mother, after all. One was from Kankuro, surprisingly, telling me that if I needed a lift to school, just give him a call. One was from my Mom, saying she'll be home by 5:30. And…

… One's from Hanabi.

"_Hey, Tenten. It's Hanabi. Heard your Grad Ball's tonight. I'll be passing by, I guess, to check the crappy thing out. I dunno about Neji, though. I shouldn't be telling you coz I'm uncertain about it, but I think Neji doesn't have plans of going to the ball. _

_It's just a hunch, though. No conclusions. I mean, as I look at him right now, it's like the Ball's the last thing he's thinking of. Okay, fine, so he's napping right now. Alright. But, really, Tenten, come by before going to the Ball to maybe slap some sense into him…_

…_Not literally slap, okay? Your slap the other day was enough._

_Thanks, Tenten. Oh, and I saw your gown. Darling little thing. I'll see you at the Ball! I'm going with Konohamaru since, well, I'm the freshman representative of the Student Council, so I need to observe some things. Catch you later!'_

To be honest, I hate my gown. It's just a simple, strapless, golden dress. And it hugs my body all over the place so it feels like snake skin against me. The material's kinda like satin or something. But what I really hate about it is the slit down my left side. Lee even made it higher and I freaked out. The pervy gay ass! But I guess I'll have to deal with it.

Holding my hair up with a towel, I stood from where I was and walked into my room. I wrapped the towel around my hair so it wouldn't drip as I dressed up. Oddly, it's already 4 o'clock. Did my hair really take _that _long to be washed? From what I know, Neji finishes doing so in less than fifteen minutes…

Well, Neji isn't here so… yeah, it'll be definitely different.

Looking back at myself at the mirror, I slipped into my gown and sucked my stomach in as I zipped it up. Up till now, I can't breathe properly in it. If I ever run out of air in the middle of the Ball, I'll blame root beer floats.

With a sigh, I gazed back at myself in the mirror. I checked the hem again and saw that it was a little visible and the slit still disturbed me. Having a slit that high made my legs chilly. It's like the air's blowing in. I am so sewing it by three inches… if I ever remember to after I put my make-up on.

I seated myself before my dresser, stared hard back at my reflection on the mirror and muttered, "Alright, let's get this done."

Then and there, I reached for my comb and started.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.**

An hour and a half later, I'm done.

Here I am, glaring back at the idiot in the mirror. I didn't look so primped up at all. I still had my hair in buns. All I did new to my hair was add a little glittering butterfly on my right hair bun. Looks cute, I guess. I put really light make-up on. I even look like I had none on.

Lee picked my accessories and shoes. So, I'm wearing golden flats and a locket-style necklace (Lee owns the necklace, so I can't keep it after the Ball.). Lee said I shouldn't wear earrings. It's freaky how Lee is such a fashion cop when he needs fashion advice. So, I look like a trophy… I hate it.

I heard Mom walk into the house. She knew I wouldn't be having dinner at home since the Ball's tonight. I was stuffing my purse with necessities (You know: cellphone, tissue, comic books if I get bored…) when Mom burst into my room with a digital camera. Oh, not again.

"Stand by the kitchen counter, sweetie!"

She does this a lot. On both my Junior and Senior Prom, she took pictures of me in my gown at the kitchen, garage, garden, patio, bedroom, bathroom, dining room, living room and even in the attic. She also did this on my thirteenth birthday and I got sick of it.

Lee arrived five minutes before six and Mom squealed. She made Lee and I pose for her camera in various places in the house again, including in front of Lee's Beetle car. Yeah, Lee did look like Willie Wonka tonight. And, gawd, he rented a staff.

After a jillion shots, we tried really hard to excuse ourselves. If we didn't want to be late or something, we had to go quick. Luckily for us, Mom let us go (On my Junior Prom, she didn't let us go. We came an hour late and the teachers just _had _to scold us.).

I gave my Mom a quick peck on the cheek before walking through the doorway. Then, I heard her ask, "Tenny, where's your other friend, Neji?"

Those words made me stop in my tracks. Even my Mom thinks of him? I turned around to face my Mom and explained, "Oh, I don't think he'll be going to the Ball with us. I think he'll be going there with his own car. Maybe we'll meet there."

"Maybe?"

"Yes, Mom. Maybe."

And with that, I got into Lee's car with a bored sigh. And with my stomach filled with sweets from my 'meals', I feel like I'm going to just throw up sooner or later.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

_(Neji's Point of View:)_

I don't want to go to that hell.

I have no intention of going to the Ball. I have a lot of reasons, though.

First, I have nothing to wear. Usually, it's a girl's problem. But, hey, they won't let you into the Grad Ball when you're in casual clothes, right? Another reason is: Hanabi got the car. Uncle did, more like it. How am I going to go to the Ball? I don't have a decent mode of transportation.

Then, there's Tenten. I can't face her tonight. Not in a while. I didn't mean to, but I hurt her. But she kinda hurt me, too. Aside from the slap she gave me when she was forcing me to admit that I was DemonFalcon, she didn't believe me when I said I wasn't. She didn't trust me. How could she?

I can't help but think so much about it.

_Ring! Ring!_

Oh, shut up, you phone. Shove that crap done your throat.

_Beep! _

_This is Neji's direct number. I'm not gonna pick up so leave a message. Beep!_

I really hate this answering machine. But, really, I hate everything right now. I'm in a bad mood so whoever's calling me right now will get his message answered on the next century.

"_Uh… Hey, Neji. It's me. It's Tenten."_

Hearing her voice made me fall off my bed. As I scampered back onto my bunk, she went on…

"_Yeah. Look, I'm so sorry for everything I've done, okay? It's all I've ever wanted to tell you for the past… what, three days? I think I'd understand if you hate me now, seriously. Right now, I'm at the Ball and… guess what? You're not here. Shocking. Heh…"_

She stopped for a minute. But I was just listening to her, waiting for what she has to say next.

"_Neji, honestly, if you're not coming to the Ball because of me, tell me. I'll leave so you can attend it. I can't get in the way. I shouldn't. Just talk to me, Neji. So… sorry."_

I heaved a sigh. I was speechless. Should I just pick the damn phone up and talk to her? Nah, what am I supposed to say, anyway, then?

"_So, that's all. Uh-huh. And, I gotta tell you, Neji: I also wish that kiss was real."_

My eyes grew wide. I thinly smiled and muttered, "I know."

"_That's… That's all I gotta say. Uh, I hope I'll see you tonight. Good night."_

Alright, I'm going. You got me, Tenten. Now, _I'm _under _your _spell.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Hey, good evening to you guys."

Shino's voice sounds so amazing when he speaks through the mic. I swear.

Behind his seat at the deejay's place, he had control over the microphone. As Green Day played through the speakers, he kept talking, "The night's pretty young, guys, and I suggest you drink more punch. It's pretty warm tonight here at the football field. And I'm accepting song requests so come by anytime!"

I've been standing at the bleachers for twenty minutes and I haven't seen anyone with daffodils at hand. Yes, I spotted a few couples making out and all, but no DemonFalcon guy. Seriously, did DemonFalcon mean it when he said we'd meet up here?

Then, someone tapped my shoulder. A beam crossed my face, hoping it would finally be DemonFalcon. When I turned around, I scowled as I came face to face with Hanabi. "Oh, you." I growled as I glared at her, "Nice to see you around here, Hanabi."

She smiled back at me and chuckled, "What do you mean 'Oh, you.'? Aren't you glad that I'm here? After all…"

Then, she took out two daffodils from her pocket. With an evil-looking grin, she muttered, "Know who I am now?"

Oh. My. Gawd. Daffodils. DemonFalcon. Hanabi's DemonFalcon?

"You're DemonFalcon?" I yelled with surprise. This is whacked. It makes perfect sense, but it's still whacked!

Hanabi nodded and twirled the daffodils as she spoke, "Yep. Explains a lot, no? Prince Charming isn't that far."

All I did was chuckle. Who knew? Not even Neji knew, I guess. Hanabi, you are one slick crap-head. Hanabi took a seat on a bleacher and started explaining, "Tenten, the only reason why I took my role as DemonFalcon was because of Neji."

I arched a brow. Neji? "Yeah." She went on, "I lured you to him. I told you that you should get date test experience help from a close friend. I knew Lee has no experience, so I knew you'd run to Neji. Get me? I was sure you'd figure it out sooner or later."

So all the gangster speak, all the lying and all the 'advice'… was just to get me to fall for Neji? But… why?

"Is that it?" I answered, party mad, "But why did you try to 'lure' me to him, anyway?"

When I asked that, she snickered silently and replied, "You're pretty dense, Tenten. No offense. If you've never noticed, Neji is still a bully and smart-ass up till now. The only reason why you see him as a sweet friend is because he acts that way towards you and only you. Got me?"

I nodded and understood. Did that mean Neji has always liked me?

"It was a pity to see him sob every night because things aren't going well with you two." Hanabi said, "When he got a girlfriend, he tried to forget about you. He tried really hard, I swear. But he never did. One day, his girlfriend broke up with him and he never felt so happy."

Alright, alright. I'm dense.

I now knew what was going on. I feel so bad for accusing Neji… but screw Hanabi for not speaking up sooner.

"I don't care for your explanations now, Hanabi," I honestly said, "I just want to know if Neji's coming to the Ball."

She looked away when I asked this. Something told me that he isn't. "Well," she muttered, "I tried to wake him up when I left to get here. But he wouldn't listen. Sorry, Tenten, but I have a huge hunch that—…"

"Attention, guys! This is the first song request for the night!"

Damn Shino disturbing us. But we ended up looking at Shino and waiting for what he had to say. He read from a small piece of paper, "Someone requested the song 'Hate that I love You' by Rihanna and Ne-yo! Oh, Ladies and Gentlemen, Tenten is a very, very lucky girl."

I'm a lucky girl? What the hell…?

As the music played, Lee ran to me, squealing. "Tenten! Tenten!" he screamed as he ran towards me and Hanabi, "Neji's here! He dedicated that song to you! He, himself, requested it!" I stood motionless there as I absorbed Lee's words.

He what? He's here? No way. He is? Shit.

I turned to Hanabi, who was looking smug and confident. "Well, why're you still standing here, shawty?" she questioned with a smirk, "Go and look for your dream boy. And, no, I'm not talking about Uchiha."

Yeah, it's not Sasuke this time (Just so you guys know, I saw Sasuke and Sakura making out somewhere. Not my thing, but I wish them well.).

I threw myself into the crowded dance floor and pushed through everyone. I got shoved, jostled and thrust around there and I needed air. In the middle of the crowd, I saw Shikamaru and Ino dancing. There was Hinata, still adoring Naruto from afar. Kankuro was somewhere with a random group of girls… and Kakashi-sensei was dancing with a senior (There were six more waiting for their turn.).

But, damn it, where is Neji? Is he hiding from me?

I pushed myself out of the crowd and grumbled too loudly, "Damn it, is he hiding from me? The coward crap…"

"Hey, you're the one who owes me an apology."

Neji…? Oh, yeah, it's him.

I turned around to find him wearing his polo and slacks combo with the scrawny tie on his shoulder. Oh, gawd, honestly, I wanted to faint then and there. I gaped back at him with my mouth ajar. This time, he didn't look so depressed anymore. In fact, he had a great smile on.

"Thanks for convincing me to show up, Ten," Neji started to speak as the music kept playing, "I didn't know what came over me."

With that, I nodded and squeaked, "I just missed you, that's all. Heh. Can't let you miss the Grad Ball now, huh? I knew Id get your ass off of your bed somehow." I chuckled nervously as he kept his grin on. His adorable, little, baby grin…

We did nothing but stare at each other for a few seconds until he suddenly said, "You know, I don't really dance. I'm sure you don't, too. What do you say we go up to the, well, you know… Botany Club's Pocket Garden?"

Neji, you are such a nerd.

I giggled at the invitation. I mean, come on. Of all the places, why would you go to that shabby place? I've never been there, though. But, I'm sure it beats being here. Especially since Lee has started 'break dancing' already. I nodded and said, "Why not?"

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

The Botany Club's pocket garden is awesome.

It's like a balcony filled with Venus fly traps and mix-bred flowers with a roof over our heads. And did I mention the spectacular view here? Below is the football field and look up and see the night sky! No stars, damn it, but the moon is beautiful.

Neji, you are such a great nerd.

"This is so great." I kept on saying it over and over again. It's true, after all, "I can't believe you never took me here before. You're so selfish." He chuckled at my statement. As we sat on the lone bench there, we just… well, stared at the blank sky and breathed in the fresh air. Nice spot.

Then, he said, "Tenten, I'm sorry for getting worked up on you trying to make me admit I'm DemonFalcon. And don't worry about the slap. I really needed it. And… And I'm sorry I wasn't able to watch your plays. I hope you loved the flowers. And I am so, so, so, so sorry for… uh, overdoing it when I gave you a massage the other ni—…"

"Hold up!" I interrupted him. He was talking too fast, but I got everything. It was my turn to talk so he had better listen…

"I'm sorry, too." I said, "I am absolutely sorry for the slap. Especially the slap. I didn't know where it came from. Hell yeah, I loved the flowers. I owe you big time for them…"

"No! Those were gifts! You owe me nothing!"

"Let me finish, will ya?"

He shut up and let me continue.

"But, really, Neji, the biggest thing I've done against you all these years is being too blind…"

He arched a brow and stifled a laugh, "E-Excuse me? Are you insulting my eyes?"

"No! Of course not! I… What I mean is… I'm sorry for being so…" I nipped my lip then finished the sentence, "…dense."

He sat there, staring at me. Do I have to explain everything? Gawd, Neji…

"I'm sorry for not appreciating how nice and caring you actually are. Okay, so I appreciated it, but I guess I never told you. I'm sorry that I couldn't always be there for you when you were there for me 24/7. I'm sorry that I didn't answer you when you asked me to the Ball. My answer is a yes…" At this moment, he blushed.

I kept going, "I'm sorry I talk too much about Sasuke. But don't worry about that now coz he's hooking up with Sakura from what I see. I'm sorry I… looked too far for a date. Now I know what DemonFalcon meant by 'Prince Charming isn't that far'. And, Neji, all I gotta tell you now is that I lo—…"

I stopped.

No, I didn't stop because I wanted to. Something _made _me stop. And when I realized what was stopping me, I decided to play along…

Before I could even finish my sentence, Neji had gently and softly pursed his lips against mine.

We just sat there overlooking everything else happening around us (or more like below us), eyes closed and smiling inside. He had cupped my chin with one of his hands as he held mine. Oh, gawd, he really _is _good.

Now, this? This is a real kiss. It's realer than you could ever imagine.

I didn't want to let go, but he did anyway with a light smack. It hasn't changed since our lesson, but this seemed to be so much better. He smiled sheepishly at me and mumbled, "Tenten, no offense but… you kinda talk to much. I had to make you stop."

We laughed together, closer than ever. Honestly, I never knew that Neji had a side like this. I didn't know that he had a side that blushed. I knew him as someone who's secure and invulnerable. I didn't know he had a side that would actually make me shut up with a sweet kiss instead of a punch down the eye. This isn't Hyuga the Bully…

But, heck. I like this Neji Hyuga better.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"And the Couple of the Night is…!"

Yeah, if there's a Prom Queen, there's a Couple of the Night. Typical, but heck. Ino stood on stage with the mic and the results of the votes. For the Couple of the Night, there are no nominees. People just looked for a couple that looked adorable and they'd just drop in the couple's names in the drop box.

But, seriously, I don't participate in that crap.

Ino opened the envelope and laughed before commenting, "Well, this is definitely a shock!"

Neji and I stood with everyone else at the football field since the Ball is almost over. Lee was at the buffet, gorging down what's left of the appetizers. Everyone looked so eager to hear who won…

"Tonight's Couple is… Jiraiya-sensei and Tsunade-sensei!"

Automatic jaw drop over there and a simultaneous "Oh shit!".

Oddly, they weren't around to accept the award. Many perverted thoughts entered everyone's minds and I swear Neji and I giggled. In a few minutes, the principal came and said the closing remarks. She said she was proud of the seniors, blah blah, Tsunade-sensei will be the new principal… good night to all.

Sorry about that. She's really just a boring speaker. Shizune-sensei never really made a good principal.

As Neji and I walked out of the school exit, we spotted a few of our friends. Like always, Shikamaru and Ino were hand in hand with Choji beside them and his fan girls. Sasuke kissed Sakura good night. Itachi, Sasuke's brother, eyed her angrily (He's got retainers.) with not much reason. Naruto came out with a detention slip. Shino left with my jar of beef jerky and jug of beer. Well, I didn't get it out of the cabinet, if I remember right.

Soon, we saw Kiba and Neji's ex-girlfriend pass by. Kiba was laughing his head off as he pointed at Neji's ex. I'd understand. Neji's ex had the same goop I got into my hair in hers. She looked at Neji furiously as Neji laughed at her, too. Finally, Lee came by… drunk.

Drunk? But there are no alcoholic drinks.

"I guess Neji will drive you home, huh, Tenten?" Lee hiccupped as he fell on his Beetle car.

Nodding, I said, "Yeah, Lee. Can you do us a favor and drive Hanabi home for Neji? Please?"

"No problem. Come on, Hanabi. Whoopee dee dee doo hoo…"

Lee is hilarious when he's drunk. Plus, he doesn't say crappy poetry when he's drunk. He should be drunk daily.

As I got inside Neji's car, he buckled his seatbelt and told me, "You know, Tenten, I'm going to miss everything once I'm in Mizu City." He twisted the key to start the engine with a half-smile. I buckled my seatbelt and sighed. Did he really have to go?

He backed up and kept talking, "But don't worry I'll try to fail the entrance exam so I can stay in Konoha, if you'd like that. So what if my dad wanted me to study in Mizu University? I don't want to, anyway…"

Aw, Neji. You'd do that? But you shouldn't.

"Nah, I'll be fine, you know." I acted like he was scoffing me, "Going to Mizu University will be great for your future. It's a chance you can't miss. Go do your best, okay?" He made a small smile as he drove out of the school parking lot and into the street.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

I stood there at my porch as he stood there beside his car. He just got out of his seat to close my door. Oh, come on, Neji. I could've done that myself. He waved at me with a smile as he said, "I'll see you tomorrow at graduation, huh?"

"Of course!" I grinned happily as I waved back, "I am graduating, after all."

Neji just nodded and kept his beam on. I did the same, just staring back at him. And I found myself heaving a sigh. Why does it have to be like this? On this night, I realized that Neji and I aren't supposed to be just friends anymore and we pretend like we don't know so. Plus, he'll be leaving after graduation. Seriously, does he really, really have to go?

After everything we've been through? After meeting him in the burger restaurant at our favorite food chain almost eight years ago and after the complications, the kisses, the laughs, the kisses… Yes, I love the kisses… After all that, it'll just end with a snap? It'll just end with him studying college in a water city? No way in hell!

"N-Neji…" I mumbled awkwardly as I looked at him. He arched a brow again and waited to hear what I had to say. He got his back off of his car and was ready to hear what I had to say.

I was supposed to say 'I love you' back there at the pocket garden, but his kiss cut me off. Well, it makes sense. Words aren't enough to say it.

Dropping my purse onto the ground, I sped down the steps, ran towards him and threw my arms around him. Our lips met and as I felt tears well up in my eyes as we shared one more kiss, I couldn't help but do it passionately. First time, but it feels like the fifth. Bluffer.

I admit it: we took a few seconds till we decided to end the kiss. What? It could be our last, you know! I wanted to kiss him and you can't do anything about it! No one can! No one c—

"Mom?! Dad?!"

I screamed as I looked back at my stunned parents. They were probably walking home from somewhere and they were nearby, witnessing the kissing. Oh my gawd. Marvelous moment wrecker! Count on your parents to do just that!

I pushed myself away from Neji and covered up, "Hi! I'm… I'm home from the Ball! Haha! Uh, Neji here drove me home. Yeah! He did! Hehe…"

Neji and I had blushing cheeks, no doubt. My parents were pretty silent. They just went to the front door, unlocked it, and my Mom said, "Well, that's… nice. Come in, you two. It's warm outside. I think it's 35 degrees…"

"That won't be necessary!" Neji and I simultaneously exclaimed. When my parents were finally inside, I whispered to him, "Sorry about that. I just wanted one last kiss for… the night." He didn't look disturbed, actually. I think he was fine with it.

"You did great, I'll say." He joked.

I snickered and said with a wink, "I learned from the best. And it's definitely real."

Neji was silent until he chuckled. Surprising me, he nuzzled me at the neck all of a sudden and whispered seductively, "Oh, and I think the slit down your gown is hot."

My eyes grew as my shy smile did, too. I giggled and answered back, "Really? Should I thank you for the, uh, compliment?" After one quick smack on my neck (which made me giggle coz I got tickled), he got into his car and waved at me.

And with that, I walked into the house and after one more 'Good Night' for Neji, I closed the door and squealed.

This is _the__ best night of my life!_

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**Oh my gawd, I made this chapter too long! I am so sorry! But I hope it was worth it! And I also hope that you guys read all the way through.**

**Kankuro: I wouldn't.**

**Me: I know you wouldn't. You're a bad influence.**

**Kankuro: Oi!**

**Me: Leave a review, guys! I need to know what you think!**


	12. Graduation Day

**This is the chapter about Graduation Day. I started it with Tenten and Lee emptying their lockers at 9 a.m. Bear with me.**

**Kankuro: -brings out Winnie the Pooh-**

**Me: Okay, stop it. You knew what I meant when I said 'Bear with me'.**

**Kankuro: Yeah… Or did I?**

**Me: -wham- Stop playing stupid! You're stupid enough!**

**Kankuro: Me?! Stupid? Look who's talking! Weren't you the one who failed Algebra 1 twice last year?**

**Me: Hey, that was Algebra 3! My school gives advanced lessons! Anyone can fail that! Besides, I'll do better this year!**

**Kankuro: I bet you'll fail four times this year.**

**Me: Ack! Knock on wood! I'd fail High School, then!**

**Winnie the Pooh: Hello, Christopher Robin. **

**Kankuro and Me: … WTF.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Winnie the Pooh.**

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_Chapter Eleven:_

"_Graduation Day"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"You're kidding!"

"Charlie Chaplin kids. Do I look like Charlie Chaplin to you?"

"Kinda…"

"Tenten! You know what I mean!"

"Yeah, yeah, but are you sure you're right?"

"Yes! See it for yourself! Look for Neji's name in the Awardees List and check out his award."

Lee pointed at the bulletin board across our lockers. Once I've reached it, I quickly scanned the lone piece of paper tacked onto the board. Definitely, it was a list of awardees for tonight's graduation ceremony.

Under the Performing Arts Awards, I found my name. I'll be given three certificates of recognition for all of the play directing I've been doing since I was a freshman. The first certificate is 'For being loyal to the Drama Club for four consecutive years'. Another is 'For devoting her time and efforts to Shakespeare's masterpieces' and the last is 'For winning second prize at the Annual Shakespeare Festival last Autumn'.

Seriously, these awards make me more of a sissy.

Lee's name was listed under the Sports Awards. He'll be getting a medal for becoming the Boxing Team's MVP for two full years. Too bad Lee can't snag an award for his poetry. But I guess this is enough for him.

Then, like what Lee said, Neji's name was written under an academic award. Lee was absolutely right and I can't believe it:

Neji's the Valedictorian!

With that award on his belt, Mizu University might even offer him a scholarship!

Speaking of Neji, he's not here _again_.

We were supposed to meet her by our lockers to bring home our stuff and projects before the school year officially ends. Believe me, if you don't clean out your locker before graduation, it'll suck for you. The school will either burn or donate to the Salvation Army anything left in the lockers.

I discovered that the hard way back in middle school.

"Lee, did Neji mention anything about not coming over for locker clean-up today?" I asked Lee as he stuffed poetry compilations down his bag. He nodded and explained, "He called up and said he'd be busy. Mizu University has established a 'First Come, First Serve' policy."

"Ugh. Mizu University again. What do they teach there that's so special that makes that school so great?" Seriously, this is pissing me off already.

Lee threw his arms into the air and exclaimed, "They teach almost everything there, Tenten! Accounting, Culinary Arts, Restaurant Management, Law… You name it, they teach it!"

"You mean people who'd want to be calculator salesmen, grill cleaners, waiters and janitors of Supreme Court would pay more than 25,000 dollars just to study there?"

"See, that's the difference when you study in Mizu University," Lee went on, "For example, if you study journalism in any other college, you land on a job as a Classified Ad printer for the local tabloid. Study journalism in Mizu and they let you take the place of that fast-talking editor in Spiderman!"

I arched a brow and concluded, "So, Mizu University is like a road to success?" Sounds awesome, though.

"No!" Lee snapped, stuffing his bag with more books, "It's an all-expenses paid, one-way ticket to success!"

Great. Lee's exaggerating things again. Or… is he?

I grabbed something from within my locker and found Neji's gym towel. I haven't returned it? On the other hand, do I have to? "What course will Neji be taking in Mizu, anyway?" I asked, "All I know is he's going to have to follow his father and uncle's footsteps and run the family business."

Lee nodded and added, "Yeah, you got that right. So, maybe he'll take both Engineering and Business Management. Their family owns lots of land worldwide. They sell them and build condominiums, buildings and homes on them with the right amount of money."

Now I understand. I nodded as I shoved a notebook into my backpack. "Well, I'll just be taking up Mass Communications." I mumbled sadly.

When Lee heard me, his jaw dropped and so did the Calculus book he was holding, "You said it was your dream to take Theatre Arts!"

"Would I get a decent job if I did?"

"Broadway and Hollywood would offer you one!"

"Aw, I don't really like dreaming, Lee. Honestly." I grumbled as I slammed my locker shut. Finally, it was nothing but a cold and empty piece of metal, "How about you, Lee? What are you taking up and where?"

"I'm going to study in Konoha College of Nursing." Lee proclaimed with a wide grin, "They teach both medicine and dentistry there, anyway. I don't really like medicine or teeth, but my Mom's in need of medical care and my Dad needs dentures. I'd gladly take up medicine and dentistry for them!"

"Are you willing?" It was strange to see Lee aiming for this. Back then, he wanted to take up journalism.

He nodded and smiled, "Anything for my parents! Once I'm already a licensed doctor and dentist, I'll take care of my parents." Count on Lee to be such a great friend and son. Seriously, he'd do anything for the ones he loves.

I unlocked Neji's locker and stared back at what was inside. As expected, there were books, notebooks, binders, overdue library books (which he claimed he had lost so he had already paid for it in the library) and the little notepad I got him for his tenth birthday. He never writes on it, but he loves it more than his other notebooks.

If Neji can't bring his things home, I'll do it for him. It'd be a waste if all this stuff turned into ashes. Luckily, I still have room in my backpack. Then and there, I started stuffing Neji's things into my bag. "I'll bring Neji's stuff to his condo later, okay?" I told Lee.

Lee just acknowledged me with a nod as he said, "By all means. My bag can't take another filler." Obviously, the bag looked like it was just going to explode. As I carefully packed Neji's things into my bag, Lee walked off, leaving his locker empty, "I'll see you later at Graduation, Tenten!" he called.

I smiled and called back, "Yeah, I'll see you!" Hm, I hope I'll see Neji, too.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"G-Good Morning, Mr. Hiashi."

I have to be honest. I shake in my knees whenever Mr. Hiashi answers the door. It's because he glares at me and he also probably hates me for no reason. It's also because he _never _answers the door. If ever he does, it's because he's the only one home.

"Oh, Tenten. Good Morning. What brings you here?" He greeted me? He what? No scoff? No 'Humph, commoner' tone? No Primadonna stance? Someone must've demented Mr. Hiashi or something.

Holding my backpack close, I explained, "It's locker clean-up today at school. Neji didn't arrive, so I cleaned out his locker for him and I brought the stuff over. Mind if I step inside?"

Mr. Hiashi smiled (Oh my gawd, he what?!) and stepped aside to let me in as he said, "Sure! Come in. But Neji's not home, okay? Although, he left something for you in his room." I nodded in acknowledgement as I stepped into the suite.

"Milk and cookies?" He offered.

Okay, this is freaking me out.

"N-No, thank you, sir." I politely declined as I made my way towards Neji's room. After that, he added, "By the way, Tenten, I heard you'll be getting an award later. Congratulations! Nana and I should really have a gift for you."

Freak show, freak show, freak show! Get the exorcist! Mr. Hiashi is somewhat possessed!

I pushed against Neji's bedroom door and entered. I dropped my backpack onto the floor and looked around. I noticed that Neji has already packed all of his things into luggage bags. Even Yuki was already in a carrier. So many things remind me of how he has to leave so soon.

Even his posters were gone. His bed is almost empty. His mattress was placed on top of Hanabi's, making Hanabi's bunk softer than ever. His pillows and blankets were also transferred to Hanabi's bed.

All that was on his bed was a shoebox, a bouquet of assorted flowers (with three Columbian roses at the center!) and a simple piece of paper with something written on it. I hope it's what Mr. Hiashi meant when he said Neji left me something in here.

I walked towards the bunk and looked at the shoebox with a skeptical expression. What, did Neji buy me shoes? Weird. Carefully, I lifted the shoebox lid and…

"Oh my gawd! Agh!"

Three fuzzy, adorable, tiny, fluffy hairballs! Baby hamsters! Oh my gawd, they are the most adorable things on Earth! Aw, they're just precious! One of them looked up at me and with all those puffy cheeks and sparkling eyes, they look like cute babies!

I picked one up and squealed as it scurried around my palm. "Aw, you're darling! I could just squish you!"

Slowly, I returned it into the shoebox and after I sniffed the roses' whiff, I picked the note up and read it as I sat down on the wooden bed frame…

"_Hey Tenten,_

_Seen what's inside the shoebox? They're adorable, aren't they? The darkest colored one's a guy and the two others are girls. They're all yours for you to take home. Guess where I got them. _

_Well, it turned out that Yuki was a she. I don't know how it happened, but I just came into my room one day and found the three hamster babies in Yuki's hamster ball. Hanabi freaked out. You should've seen how shocked she looked like._

_And, yeah, I got you another bouquet of flowers. Love them? Knew you would. Columbian roses are my trademarks now. Hehe, kidding._

_Sorry I can't be home now. If I want to study in Mizu, I'd have to act fast. Slots are slowly running out, they say. How true it is. I don't really want to go, though. But if I want to make my dad proud, then I'll have to get in._

_So, that's that. Yeah._

_Even when I'm away, do me a favor and call me every now and then, okay? Because you're the one I'm going to miss the most, bet on it. _

_I never knew we'd have to say bye one day. Back then when I was a kid, I always thought that we'd be best friends forever. Inseparable. The Terrible Two. Dynamic Duo. Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable…_

_Neji and Tenten… NejiTen. Heh._

_You take care, okay? Study Theatre Arts, if you ask me. Television will have a spot for you, I swear. I'll still call you at night and maybe, just maybe, I can send flowers on your birthday. I don't know when I'll be back, but I will be someday. Don't wait for me. I might take forever…_

_But if you _do _wait for me, I promise: The moment I'll see you again, I'll marry you. Haha! Kidding!_

_Well, I'll see you around. Say, do me another favor: Play 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' for me tonight. You'll remember me. Coz I'll be playing the same song tonight at around 11 p.m. We'll just keep our special link, huh? Alright._

_But, come on, this isn't goodbye, right? Goodbye is such a strong word, huh? It's the same phrase I told my parents before they died. Goodbye makes things sound hopeless. One of those things is reunion._

_So, this is just like good night… because when you say good night, it's like saying 'I'll see you again. See you in the morning.' That way, you'll have this feeing that there's still hope. We'll still meet again, one day. Not in the morning, but one day. I promise, okay? Okay._

_So, good night, Tenten. I love you. Sorry, but I can't give you a good night kiss._

_Neji."_

Really, Neji wasn't one who'd write a note or letter that would be mushy or romantic, but with all those effortless words from his heart, I couldn't help but just…

…cry and just wish that he'd fail the exam to Mizu.

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Yamanaka Ino, with Academic distinction."

The blond girl in the robe walked up onto stage and beside her was her boyfriend, holding her hand. Seriously, even up till now, Shikamaru won't let go of Ino both literally and figuratively. He's one hell of a boyfriend. Kinda overprotective, but hey.

I sat in my seat beside Lee in my own robe, gazing around if by chance I'd find Neji. He hasn't taken his seat beside me. It's empty like 2C last play. He said he'd be here to graduate, right? He has to be. Why does is he missing again?!

"Nara Shikamaru, Academic Award: Silver Medallist. Extra-Curricular Award: Chess Team Captain for four years."

After Lee gets his name announced, I'll have to go on-stage next. Then, Neji will top everything off since he's the Valedictorian. Where the hell is he? What's taking him so long? He's not with Hanabi, Mr. Hiashi and Nana! Where are you, Neji?

"Tenny?" My mom called me softly from behind me. She sat there behind us to keep me straight. She said I might suddenly get tensed up. "Are you okay, swetie? You look nervous." She patted my shoulder comfortingly.

"Mom, do you see Neji from there?" I asked, worried.

As she looked around, I kept my gaze on the stage as more students got up to be awarded and all. Seriously, Neji, this is the worst time to be absent! Come on! Arrive already!

"Rock Lee, with a Sports Award for being the Boxing Team's Most Valuable Player."

Lee jumped off of his seat and ran upstage. Really, it was unnecessary.

Maybe Neji's around and he just didn't take the seat I reserved for him. Besides, he's busy, right? He'll be late. Better late than never, right?

… Right?! Damn it!

"Tenten, with a Performing Arts Award for her achievements as the Drama Club's Director."

It was my turn already. What is up, Neji? Where the hell are you and what's taking you so long?

After a word of encouragement from my Mom, I stood from my seat, walked down the aisle and walked on-stage. There, the principal handed me my certificates and diploma and shook my hand. "Congratulations, Tenten," she said with a smile, "You're lucky to be graduating tonight."

"_Honestly," _I thought as I tried to beam back, _"I'd be luckier if Neji did arrive tonight."_

I got down from the stage and as I was still on my way to my seat, they announced, "And we are proud to announce the name of our Valedictorian for this batch: Neji Hyuga!"

There was clapping, hooting and screaming (Lee did most of that) when his name was said. But I just turned to every direction, trying to see if there was a pony-tailed, pearl-eyed nice guy around in a toga…

None.

Shizune-sensei also looked around before her assistant got up, handed her a letter then whispered something to her. Then and there, Shizune-sensei announced, "I'm afraid Mr. Neji Hyuga is not present tonight."

Aw, gawd. Why now?

"It seems that," Shizune-sensei continued, "Neji Hyuga left for Mizu City three hours ago. His family will take the award today and it will be sent to him in a week's time. Let us wish him well that he may be accepted into Mizu University."

There. Now I know. He had already left. Why didn't he tell me?

… Why?

"Dear students," Shizune-sensei said as she stepped back with a grin, "Congratulations! You are now all graduates!"

Everyone stood up (or more like jumped up) from their seats and screamed with joy. They threw their hats into the air, holding their diplomas up into the air. Everyone had a satisfied air on and they even hugged each other. Really, high school was tough, but it's time to move on.

My Mom ran up to me and gave me a hug, saying, "Oh, Tenny, I'm so proud of you! You're finally a graduate!" I held her back, too, and as I rested my head on my Mom's shoulder, I hiccupped and felt tears roll down my cheeks.

"Aw, Tenny, don't cry." Mom said, patting my back, "But you must be so glad that those four years finally paid off."

I clutched my diploma at hand and bit my lip as more tears came down. Lee joined the hug and while my Mom didn't realize it, Lee gave me a saddened look and said, "I'm sorry, Tenten. I also didn't know that he had left."

All I did was nod and let the small tears go.

Then, I mumbled, "Want a baby hamster?"

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"_All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go… I'm standing here outside your door… I hate to wake you up to say goodbye…"_

11:00 p.m. It's exactly what it says on my digital clock. Exactly 11:00 p.m.

So, there. I did what Neji asked me to do and played 'Leaving on a Jet Plane'. I never really liked the Frank Sinatra version, so I'm playing the Rocapella version. But the volume's below fifteen coz if my parents hear me, they'll ground me despite the diploma.

My graduation party will be tomorrow but my parents are saving up for the coming baby (I'm getting a brother), so it's just chips and pirated movies. Last year, I was thinking of renting 'War of the Worlds' and 'Lord of the Rings' for Neji, but I guess that's not coming true any time soon…

Lee will be coming, so Titanic is in the list.

What a whacked week this has been. I asked countless guys out. I brought my crush and his best friend together. I hooked up with my best friend. I kissed him thrice this week. I wish he could right now. I went through Grad Ball. Hanabi haunted me by impersonating a gangster…

Gawd, high school never ends.

Honestly, I'm getting sleepy from today's events. Locker-cleaning, graduation… Neji leaving… got me pooped…

I just want to… drift into sleep and…

Well… sleep.

Good Night, Neji.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**ATTENTION, PEOPLE! THIS FIC IS NOT YET OVER! BUT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE EPILOGUE, FINE!**

**Kankuro: What?! There's an epilogue?!**

**Me: Yeah! It's gonna be titled "Ten years later"! It's when Neji and Tenten meet again!**

**Kankuro: Oh, come on.**

**Me: I need reviews, guys! :D And wait for the epilogue!**


	13. Epilogue

**The epilogue is here! Take note that this takes place ten years after the graduation. So… Neji, Tenten and Lee 27 years old? But Temari is 29 and Kankuro's 28, to be specific. Everyone else is 26.**

**Kankuro: You made me old!**

**Me: Technically, you're just a year older than everyone else.**

**Kankuro: Why do these things keep happening to me?! –cry-**

**Me: -sweat drop- Uh, anyway, this is the last chapter for this fic so… -sniff-. **

**Kankuro: Woohoo!**

**Me: -points at Kankuro- Old guy!**

**Kankuro: -goes back to crying-**

**Me: I think I'm going to like this. –smirk-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Epilogue:_

_"Ten Years Later…"_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"We're on in nine!"

_I don't know what happened to all of us of Konoha High's Batch 2008. Really, what happened to us? We used to be this bunch of mediocre bash heads and look at all of us now! Who knew, anyway? Who knew?_

"I know! Excited? I know I am!"

_Let's recap everything and well, be amazed all over again, shall we? Haha…_

"Oh my gawd! There are so many photographers! And is that Steven Spielberg?!"

"Idiot! Steven Spielberg retired already!"

"I thought he was dead…"

_The trio who used to be Column Seven of Bio Class are now well-known and rather prominent people. Naruto used to be just the batch clown. Sakura was goody-good two shoes. Sasuke was the baseball Joe undergoing his awkward stage high school…_

"Hey, shut up, everyone!"

_Now, Naruto's starring in Comedy Central. His show is a hit and is number 6 in the 'Greatest TV Shows of the Year' category. Sakura is now a documentary-writer and housewife. She married Sasuke, a successful hotelier. He and Sakura are expecting a baby in three months._

"Where's the star?! Where is she?! Oh, there she is."

"Places everyone!"

_Row Nine of Algebra and Algebra Remedial is still close as ever. It's like Ino, Shikamaru and Choji never even left the group after graduation. In fact, I think they even studied in the same college!_

"Props persons! I need props here!"

_Ino became a waitress in Shikamaru's restaurant. It's a diner that serves veal as their specialty. Choji co-owns it and also works as one of the chefs. The restaurant has been named "YamaNara's". Clearly, Shika and Ino got married as soon as they finished college. They have a one-year-old daughter names Kaino. They're rushing things, I'll say._

"Everything looks marvelous!"

"Indeed, indeed! Smile for the camera!"

"Do your best, everyone!"

_Hinata, Kiba and Shino were the Gym Trio. And I think they still are. Shockingly, they all work for the city newspaper. Hinata used to be all shy but social. Kiba was rowdy and disoriented. Shino was… well, Shino…_

"Hey! Shut up, everyone! Keep quiet backstage!"

"Allow only three photographers from the newspaper to enter."

"Including Shino Aburame of the 'Morning Bug-le', ma-am?"

"Let that hippie in! Haha!"

_Hinata is the one who interviews important people and celebrities during parties and gatherings. Her articles get published almost every time. Shino, as you guys heard, is still a photographer. Kiba is writes articles for the sports section and also is pasting advertisements of his dogs (He's selling the three last litters because he says he has had enough dogs. Dalmatians, anyone?)._

"Hey, Shino. How're things in the newspaper? How's Hinata and Kiba?"

The hippie just shrugged and flashed a photo of me.

_The Beach Sibs left Konoha ten years ago. They came back six months ago, though. They went back to their home country for college. They're back to find better jobs. I guess they couldn't find great jobs back at their home._

"I wasn't ready for my picture to be taken!"

But Shino took another shot again. This time, my hands were on my hips, my mouth was in an angle and my eyes looked terrifying.

_Temari works at the Internet Café across Kankuro's recording studio. Plus, Kankuro still has a band, but not his high school band. Plus, both Kankuro and Gaara joined Konoha Idol last year! Gaara won and had an album published… thrice!_

"Shino!"

"This'll be perfect for a scandal, Tenten. Thanks. Hehe. Kidding."

"Humph. You better be."

"I need a picture of you with the star."

"Idiot. I _am _the star!"

_Then, there's my posse. Gawd, I miss my buds. I get to talk to Lee everyday, though. He failed the entrance exam to the Medical school he wanted to go to. He had no choice but to take Mass Communications with me. On our first year in college, his Mom died. Gawd, Lee cried so hard and tried to blame himself for everything._

"Really? How did that happen? I thought you were the directress."

"Shocking, huh? Well, I didn't know I had it in me, either."

"Now, about that picture…"

"Right! Haha…"

_After we finished Mass Communications, Lee jumped into Journalism like how he has always wanted to. I, on the other hand, auditioned for 'Konoha's National Acting Troupe' five years ago. Even without the degree in Theatre Arts, they took me in. Lee followed his dream and began publishing books. And they make great best sellers! I wanted to be a directress, but ended up as an actress, instead._

Flash.

"There we go. This'll be wonderful on tomorrow's paper."

"Thanks, Shino. You staying to watch?"

"Obviously."

"Give Hinata and Kiba my best wishes."

_And, well, I haven't forgotten about Neji. Realistically, Neji and I aren't patient people like the ones in movies, really. The ones in the movies wait patiently and painstakingly, waiting for the other without getting hooked up on anyone else. Neji did that, but I didn't. Kankuro and I were engaged once. Then it was canceled. Now, we're just acquaintances. Weird, huh?_

"Tenten! Come on! Get on stage! We're on!"

"Oh, okay!"

_But, really, things have changed between Neji and me. Mizu University took him. From then on, his life changed. He had to take his studies too seriously. One failing mark could destroy everything for him. Honestly, he didn't graduate in four years. He did after six. Tough._

_From then on, only Hinata and Hanabi told me about him. He can't speak to me because he's always busy with studies back then, now with work. His secretary puts me on hold twenty times in a single phone call. I lost hope before and that's when Kankuro entered. Seriously, there were more guys after Kankuro… but Neji seems to be worth the wait._

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are presenting to you tonight: A Midsummer Night's Dream performed by the actors of Konoha's National Acting Troupe!"

As I stood on stage under the spotlight, I watched the scene unfold. I love this play, really. It's one of my favorites. In this story, a woman, Hermia, is in love with a man she can never reach, Lysander. The man loves her, too, but unless she has a death wish, she can't marry him.

This woman has a suitor, Demetrius, someone she doesn't really like. But her best friend, Helena, loves her suitor. Technically, it's a whacked typical love triangle. I play the part of Hermia and my cue isn't in a few minutes.

I kept my stance as Hermia as I stayed on stage. Even if my mind is floating off at this time, it's alright. We've been working on this play for so long that I actually can do everything with my eyes closed.

Now, it's my turn to speak.

"Belike for want of rain, which I could well," I said, folding my hands like an innocent child, "Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes."

Really, I don't know what all this Shakespearean talk means, but Lee must now. I should've asked him earlier. Oh, he's in the front again. Usual.

I listened to my fellow actor as he spoke, "Ay me! For aught that I could ever read!" I forgot this dude's name, but I'm sure that he really needs to work on his staging. I mean, come on! "… The course of true love never did run smooth…"

Shakespeare can never be more correct about that.

But, seriously, I miss Neji so much. Even with all those relationships I've gone through, his was different, somehow. It's like his was the only one that was ever true… that's why it won't come easy. If I want it, I'll have to wait for it. Honestly, I wish I did instead of looked for other guys while Neji was away…

"I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow, by his best arrow with the golden head," Marvelous. This is the line where Hermia vows by almost everything that she will meet her love in the forest. Seriously, I wish Shakespeare had just written, "I'll see you there at 8!"

But, no. He had to complicate things, "By the simplicity of Venus' doves, by all the vows that men have broke, in number more than ever women spoke, that—…"

Shit. Oh my gawd, no way!

Is that… him? Can't be. But… it is.

Is that really Neji seated at the audience?!

He still has his ponytail! He's still got pearl eyes! He still smiles like that! No way! It _is _Neji! He's here! Watching me! Watching my play! All the way from Mizu! He's back! My best friend is back! Neji Hyuga is back!

"Tenten, say the damn line…" my co-actor whispered to me. Well, it's because I stopped on mid-sentence. Idiot, Tenten, idiot! Snap out of it and say your line! Don't get yourself fired, damn it! Wake up!

I saw my director behind the curtain, waving an angry fist at me! He looks like he's going to kill me if I mess the show up.

"…that I love thee with all my heart."

Shit! Wrong line!

But, hey, it's what I wanted to tell the smiling Hyuga at the third row.

Once the scene was done, the dork who plays Lysander walked up to me and asked, "Hey, what happened to you back there? You froze in mid-sentence, you said the wrong last line and you tripped as we walked to backstage! Are you unfocused or something?"

"Relax." I mumbled as I checked on my script, "I'm sorry I froze back there, okay? And no one will know that the last line was wrong, okay? Jeez."

Seriously, I want this play done and over with so I can just hug Neji and scream!

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"Oh my gawd! Neji! Neji! Neji!"

"Tenten! Hey!"

I ran out of the backstage door and crashed onto him. "Neji! You're here! In Konoha! Here! Watching me back there! In Konoha! Oh my gawd!" I squeezed him harder and squealed louder. He laughed as I did and he hugged me back.

"Aw, I missed you, too, Ten!" he said, still holding on to me, "And you did an awesome job back there. Didn't know you could act."

"I knoooooow!" I squealed as I kept my hold on him, "But who cares? You're back! Back! In Konoha! Neji Hyuga is baaaack!"

We both laughed together as we shared that one, big hug in the middle of the sidewalk, "Easy, Tenten. I have a surprise for you." I let go immediately and smiled so hard I couldn't feel my cheeks, "Surprise? Columbian roses?"

He rolled his eyes and muttered, "How is it a surprise now? Huh, oh well." He took me by the hand and briskly walked towards a limousine. "Oh my gawd!" I screamed, squeezing his hand, "You own a limousine?!"

He chuckled and said, "Yeah, but what the heck, I don't have a driver. Not tonight, though. Any other day, I do."

After he opened the car door, he took out a really huge bouquet of blood red Columbian roses! And they were so beautiful! Big, gorgeous, fragrant, heart-stopping, expensive Columbian roses!

Once again, I squealed and brought the roses into my arms. I almost hugged it. I knew everyone passing by were giving me odd looks, but who cares, huh?! Who? I'll kill you!

"You missed those, didn't you?" Neji joked, watching me adore the roses.

"Gawd, yes!" I exclaimed, giddy like a child, "Do you know how many people have given me Columbian roses for the last ten years? No one! I mean, these roses are still expensive, you know! If these roses grew on trees worldwide, I'd get them everyday!"

Neji chuckled as I did, too, and there, he muttered, "Ten years, huh? Yeah, it's been so long, huh, Tenten?"

"Very."

"How are you doing nowadays, anyway?"

"Hm. So-so. I've starred in countless plays already. It puts bread on the table. You?"

"Hyuga Corp. Hinata and Hanabi must've told you."

"They did."

For a few seconds, we did nothing but exchange glances until I just couldn't take it anymore. I threw my arms around him again and screamed some more, "You have no idea how much I missed you, Neji! Ten crappy years of nothing but ass-crap relationships and waiting! You know how long ten years seemed to be for me?! Do ya?"

"Ass-crap relationships?"

"Uh, yes."

"Oh." It was all he could say?! Oh?! OH?!

So what if I had other men before? Not now, but before! They lost! They didn't last long. Kankuro was a great guy, but we didn't get married, right? Eventually, he'll be the one winning! Unless… Unless he doesn't plan to…

"Wanna have dinner?" I mumbled as I still hugged him. As I drew my arms away, he nodded and said, "Sure. Pick any restaurant and it'll be my treat. I promise."

"Sure! Like pie?"

"You know I do."

"Ino makes the best."

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

As Ino placed our orders on our table, she commented, "Neji Hyuga? I didn't think you'd actually come back to Konoha. I mean, you were so successful in Mizu. Why're you back now? Vacation?"

Neji shrugged and mumbled, "Just felt like coming back. I missed everyone."

And then, Ino smirked and teased all of a sudden, "Everyone? Hm, you don't miss everyone. You just miss Tenten. That's why you're back."

Uneasily, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, sure, I missed Tenten, too. Anyway, can I get a soda?" With that, Ino walked off towards the kitchen with her little bill pad at hand.

I rested my elbow on the table as I rested my chin on it. Looking at Neji, he hasn't changed so much. Kinda like me. He's still cute. He's still tall. Still nice and still sweet. The suit makes him more sophisticated and it kinda makes him stick out like a sore thumb in this diner, but hey. It's Neji.

"So, how are things in Mizu City?" I asked as I poked on my slice of mango cream pie.

He poked at his, too, and admitted, "Dull. It's all work. I can't get a social life and honestly, I want to get rid of my secretary."

Tell me about it. The bitch puts me on hold too much.

"And," he continued, "I heard someone was engaged the other year." He arched a brow at me and smirked. Ah, so he knows about the canceled engagement with Kankuro. I sighed then sipped some of my juice.

"It was nothing." I said, trying to smile things off, "It never really happened. It wasn't meant to, anyway. Subject change, please?"

"Can't we talk about it?"

"But why? It's past."

"Yeah, but I deserve to know about it, right?"

I nipped my lip and asked, "What about you? Didn't you get hooked up with a girl in Mizu?"

"No. They're all not worth it."

"Oh really?"

"Well, I wanted to wait until I could come home."

I rolled my eyes, "Ah, so you're gonna find a girl here in Konoha?"

"I've found someone."

"Temari?!"

"Gawd, no."

I paused then jokingly guessed, "It's Kin, isn't it?"

"She was my ex in high school! I can't get back to her! Besides, she's a single mother now."

"I know that."

Then, Ino came in with a glass of soda for Neji. Neji and I just kept our gazes away while Ino was there until she suddenly blurt out, "Okay, fine! If you can't talk coz I'm here, fine! I'll let you two talk privately! Gawd, you people."

Heh. Spoiled-by-her-husband waitress.

"So…" I tried to start a conversation again as he ate some of his pie, "Are you back for good?"

He shook his head and mumbled, "Actually, I'm supposed to be flying back to Mizu now. My uncle will kill me if he ever finds out that I'm still in Konoha, actually."

I gasped softly, "But you just wanted to see me?"

"Well, yeah. And I wanted to give you those flowers and talk to you and—…"

"You really haven't changed, Neji." I interrupted him, "You're still you." I made a small smile as he smiled back, too. It's something I missed about him, really. I can't help but say it out loud: He's still the Neji Hyuga that I fell in love with.

"_Oh, this is the night. It's a beautiful night. And we call it Bella Notte…"_

What the hell…?

Then Choji comes in with a CD player, singing 'Bella Notte'. The Italian accent sent chills down my spine, but if it worked for Lady and the Tramp, why not? But did it have to be a CD player?! Seriously, Choji looks like a Nigger Wannabe with that stereo on his head.

Neji and I chuckled as the music played. This is totally whacked.

"_Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes on this lovely Bella Notte…"_

Shikamaru walked out to our table and said, "Want spaghetti, too?"

We shook our heads in embarrassment. Seriously, the diners were already staring at us. Too much attention, isn't it, now? And get Choji some accordion lessons.

But Shikamaru shrugged and said, "Whatever. Ino's making some in the kitchen, anyway. Anything for the two lovebirds."

Oh, gawd.

"_Side by side with your loved one, you'll find enchantment here. The night will weave its magic spell, when the one you love is near!"_

Neji raised his hand and asked, "Is this coming out of my tab?"

**O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O**

"But, really, Neji. Why're you here in Konoha?"

I was inside Neji's limousine, seated beside him up at front. He said he'd drive me home. Honestly, I haven't moved from that same place. We left the diner a little early. The three restaurant friends were already making me hide behind my bouquet.

"I had something to do." He simply answered my question. But for me, it clearly didn't make sense.

Even so, I just nodded and asked, "Well, are you done with it?"

"Nah."

"What? But… I don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"Is it a business kind of thing?"

"I wouldn't say it is."

Yeah, like always, he's playing around with me.

In a few minutes, he stopped in front of my house. I invited him to greet my parents and my brother, but he didn't answer. He kept his eyes forward and I felt like worrying. Is there a problem again?

Because, seriously, I haven't seen him frown like this in years… technically coz I've also never seen him in years.

"Do you remember …" he began, saying it out of the blue. I arched my brow and waited for him to continue. But he suddenly shook his head and said, "Uh, forget that." No way.

I said, still looking at him amid the darkness, "I'd remember whatever moment you're trying to remember. Go on."

He smiled thinly then turned his car's engine off. What the hell…?

"Remember Grad Ball?" he asked, finally. I laughed and said, "How can I forget?"

He raised his brows at me and smirked. Oh yeah, his signature smirk. Haven't seen that in ages.

"I remember it really well," he answered, still showing his smirk, "In fact, I can even do those things again. I remember doing this…" Then and there, he cupped my chin again and after I giggled silently, our lips met once again in a kiss. Ten years! I haven't felt this kiss in ten years. And yeah, we both haven't changed when it comes to it.

We still tilt our heads. He still cups my chin. I still… suck (Hahahaha!). And he's still got me under his spell. My gawd, it's still the same on-target genuine kiss we shared during high school. But no one said he should change how he kisses me, right? Right? Hehe.

Soon, I felt his lips draw away slowly from mine and suddenly go down my jaw line. Here he is again, nuzzling me like how he did on the night of Grad Ball. "Can't give you a massage now," he whispered near my ear, "Fine with that?"

I giggled softly as he left kisses down my neck again. Well, bringing back memories isn't illegal. But as things went on, I felt his breath near my ear again and I knew he's going to whisper something. And he did. And I gasped when I heard it…

"Tenten, will you marry me?"

Oh my gawd. Did my ears deceive me or something? Neji Hyuga asked me if I would marry him? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ten years ago, he did this antic and asked me to the Ball. Now, he does the same kind of trap and asks for _my hand in marriage?!_

…

I'd be an idiot to decline.

My eyes grew, I squeezed him into my hug as I squealed inside the car. "Yes!" I screamed, "Gawd, Neji, if that was all you wanted to ask, you didn't need to act all smooth and hot! Just ask and I'll scream YES!" I practically threw myself onto him.

Then I added, "But, really, I don't mind if you go all smooth and hot first."

He laughed and as we got up to fix our seats again (Believe it or not, Neji sat on the stick thing… whatever it is.) and when we were done, he took out a ring case and flipped it open, showing a ring.

He smiled and asked, "I have to be frank: You're the only reason why I came back to Konoha. I thought I wouldn't be able to do this tongiht, actually. I love you, Tenten and I hope the ring is good enough."

Slowly, he took it and slid it down my finger. I gazed at it lovingly then looked back at him, choking in my words, "Anything is good enough as long as it's from you."

And once again, he held me in my arms as I hugged him again. My happiness was practically flowing out of me!

Okay, I changed my mind: _THIS _is the best night of my life.

Well, this is awesome. Ten years ago, my story ended as an angsty tale. Now, I finally got my happily ever after. I guess this is The End for you and the start of a new chapter for me, soon-to-be Tenten Hyuga.

Not a bad ending for the Batch Sissy, right?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Please attend Neji and Tenten's wedding on June 9, 2008 at 8 in Konoha.**

**Kankuro: Seriosuly?!**

**Me: No.**

**Kankuro: -sulk-**

**Me: So, D3 is over! I'm going to miss having to write this story. But stay tuned for my next chapter fic! Should I advertise it now?**

**Kankuro: Kill me first!**

**Me: Shut up, Old Man!**

**Kankuro: I'M NOT OOOOLD!**

**Me: Thanks for the reviews, hits, everything! It meant a lot! And as of now, D3 is the chapter fic with the most reviews in my stories list! Thank you so much! You guys rock!**


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